Syria has called upon the international community to respect the principles of the international humanitarian law and the sanctity of human life and to work on lifting the unilateral coercive measures imposed on it immediately and unconditionally, particularly due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the neighboring states.

A Foreign and Expatriates Ministry official source said in a statement to SANA on Thursday that in light of the dangerous escalation represented by the Coronavirus and the international alert to confront this pandemic and to contain it and prevent its spread, the U.S. and the European Union are continuing to impose illegitimate unilateral coercive measures on a number of states, some of which are hugely suffering from the spread of the virus, in a blatant violation of human rights and the simplest humanitarian values and principles.

The source added that the Syrian Arab Republic whose people have suffered and still suffer from the terrorist aggression and the illegitimate unilateral coercive measures which affect the life of the citizens and particularly the health sector, calls on the international community to respect the principles of the international humanitarian law and the sanctity of the human life, and to work on lifting those sanctions immediately, particularly in the current circumstances after the Coronavirus has spread in the neighboring countries.

The source continued that Syria affirms its full solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Cuba and all the states in which the pandemic has spread or which are facing the risk of its spread while they are facing the sanctions in the time when all efforts must be unified for saving humanity from this pandemic.

The source said that Syria calls for lifting those sanctions immediately and unconditionally and it urges the other states to break this illegitimate siege, and it holds the U.S. and its allies, who impose those sanctions and boast of protecting human rights, fully responsible for every human victim of this pandemic through hindering the efforts which aim at confronting this virus which constitutes a serious threat to all humanity and through preventing the help in curbing the virus.

Source: SANA