Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 February 2023.

Media stakeout by UN Security Council Members:Albania, Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Today, the Security Council discussed the latest report from the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The IIT has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Syrian Arab Republic was responsible for the 2018 chemical weapon attack in Douma, which killed 43 men, women and children and affected dozens more.

We welcome this report as an important and necessary step in establishing the truth about the horrific 2018 attack on Douma. We commend the efforts of the investigation teams and acknowledge the bravery and contributions of the first responders, witnesses and all those who participated in the international investigation.

We also express our full support for the impartial, independent and professional work of the OPCW and its Technical Secretariat, who have worked tirelessly over the years on the Syria file.

This is the ninth independent impartial expert finding on the basis of sufficient and reliable bodies of information that the Syrian Arab Republic was responsible for the use of chemical weapons, and yet we are still no closer to accountability for the perpetrators or justice for the victims. This report should be a further step towards accountability and justice for the victims of these attacks.

Failure to hold those who violate the Chemical Weapons Convention to account signals to others that these attacks are acceptable. Impunity for the use of chemical weapons, by anyone, in any circumstances, cannot and will not be allowed.

As Under-Secretary-General for disarmament affairs and OPCW Director General have made clear in their many reports and briefings to the Council, including during today’s meeting, Syria’s initial and subsequent declarations to the OPCW cannot be considered accurate and complete.

This lack of assurance of the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles and the ongoing failure of Syria to implement its obligations under the CWC and UNSCR 2118 poses an ongoing threat to international peace and security. Syria remains in violation of its commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention, despite its accession in 2013. Syria is still in breach of its obligations under UNSCR 2118, which was unanimously adopted by the Council in 2013.

So, today, we call on Syria, yet again, to remove any obstacles and cooperate fully with the OPCW and fulfil its international obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and UNSCR 2118.

We will not give up until we have assurance from the OPCW that Syria has taken the actions necessary to exclude completely the possibility of the use of chemical weapons anywhere, at any time, under any circumstances.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 February 2023.

A plane carrying 77 UK search and rescue specialists, equipment and four search dogs, has arrived in Gaziantep, Turkey to support the earthquake response.

• Plane carrying a team of 77 UK search and rescue specialists, equipment and four search dogs arrived in Gaziantep today
• UK’s world-class specialist skills and state-of-the-art search equipment will help locate survivors in the rubble of the earthquakes
• British Embassy in Ankara and consulates lower their flags to half-mast as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives

Today (Tuesday 7 February) a UK team of 77 search and rescue specialists, 4 search dogs and rescue equipment arrived in Gaziantep in south east Turkey to join the emergency response.

An Emergency Medical Team were also on the flight. They will conduct a full assessment of the situation on the ground.

The UK government is immediately providing the support requested by the Turkish government. The UK will continue to assess the situation and stands ready to provide further long-term assistance as needed.

The UK International Search and Rescue team is made up of firefighters and staff from 14 fire and rescue services from across the country, including experts from England, Scotland and Wales. They will be using specialist search equipment including:

• Seismic listening devices;
• Concrete cutting and breaking equipment; and
• Propping and shoring tools.

Their world-class specialist skills and state-of-the-art heavy duty equipment will allow the UK team to cut their way into buildings and locate survivors in the rubble during this vital time.

The team is self-sufficient upon arrival and provides its own food, water, shelter, sanitation, communications and all necessary equipment to undertake search and rescue operations.

In solidarity with the Turkish people, the British Embassy in Ankara and Consulates across Turkey have lowered their flags to half-mast for the 7-day national mourning period declared by the Turkish government.

In north-west Syria, the UK-funded White Helmets continue to carry out a significant search and rescue response and have mobilised all their resources to respond to emerging needs. The UK has given the White Helmets £2.25 million in the last year and an additional funding uplift of £800,000 for front line search and rescue operations.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 February 2023.

Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the Security Council meeting on Syria.

On behalf of the UK, I give my condolences to those people affected by the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria. Our thoughts are with those families still searching for answers and loved ones from the rubble and those in mourning in the aftermath of the earthquake and its aftershocks and with those helping them in any way. The UK is contributing immediate support and stands ready further to support humanitarian efforts.

Madame President, I start by thanking High Representative Nakamitsu, Director-General Arias and IIT Coordinator Oñate for their briefings.

We welcome the publication of the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team’s latest report which has decisively found the Assad regime responsible for the 2018 chemical weapons attack on Douma, which killed 43 men, women and children and injured dozens more, in horrifying circumstances.

Yet again, we are faced with undeniable evidence that the Syrian state has used chemical weapons to murder its own citizens.

This is the ninth such finding of Syrian regime responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in investigations by the UN and OPCW. We welcome this report, and once again commend the expertise, independence, dedication and professionalism of the OPCW’s staff.

We owe it to the victims of Douma and the thousands of other victims of chemical weapons attacks across Syria to hold the Syrian regime to account.

Moreover, President, today we are gravely concerned that the Assad regime has been working actively to rebuild its chemical weapons stockpile since at least 2018 – in flagrant violation of its obligations and the commitments 193 states parties have made under the Chemical Weapons Convention in pursuit of a world free from chemical weapons.

This is why it remains vital that we support the OPCW in efforts to resolve inconsistencies and discrepancies with Syria’s Chemical Weapons declaration. The Syrian regime must now change its behaviour on chemical weapons, and must provide this Council with concrete assurance that it has destroyed all stockpiles and no longer possesses the capability or intent to use chemical weapons anywhere, under any circumstances.

Despite the latest overwhelming evidence of Syria’s chemical weapons use, we have heard again today Russia’s usual barrage of lies, denials, disinformation and unfounded criticism of the OPCW. But the OPCW’s painstaking report, which considers the ‘alternative scenarios’ put forward by Russia, specifically, comprehensively and credibly rejects them on the basis of evidence.

If the Assad regime, and its protector Russia, prevent progress, block accountability and deny justice for the victims, they also risk further erosion of the global norm against the these abhorrent weapons. All of us here today have a responsibility to support the OPCW, to uphold the Chemical Weapons Convention, insist on compliance with the resolutions of this Council, and continue to seek accountability for the victims of these heinous attacks.

Thank you.