Stop violence to solve humanitarian crisis in Syria

The Syrian issue has escalated, triggering a series of humanitarian crises. More than 2.5 million people need aid, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

United Nations' data shows that the overall number of refugees in Syria is more than 1 million and that refugees fleeing to other countries hit nearly 230,000.

China strongly supports the UN and other international organizations making efforts to relieve the humanitarian crisis in Syria. China will also continue to provide aid to improve the conditions in Syria.

As refugee pressure in neighboring countries grows, Turkey closed its border with Syria and asked the UN to set up a safe zone in Syria.

But past experiences indicate that a safe zone is not a safe shelter for refugees in many cases because land forces and a no-fly zone are by-products of the safe zone. In the case of Syria, these by-products would certainly make the situation more complicated and unstable. A humanitarian issue can be easily politicized.

The international community should be vigilant. Plenty of examples in history suggest that humanitarian affairs have been used as an excuse to impose military interference on sovereign countries.

As neither side plans to stop fighting, foreign powers are seeking all the possibilities to steer the development of the Syrian crisis. These are the real causes for the humanitarian crisis, which should be addressed urgently.

Kofi Annan's six suggestions and the Geneva conference communiqué of the Action Group for Syria demonstrate the consensus of the international community. But neither of them has been maintained and followed. Stopping violence is the first step to solve not only the humanitarian crisis, but also the whole Syria issue.