Targeted Attacks On Medical Facilities In Syria

EDM number 230 in 2016-17, proposed by Roger Godsiff on 15/06/2016.
Categorised under the topics of Health services, Middle East and Military operations.

That this House notes with very great concern the ongoing targeting of medical facilities in Syria by airstrikes carried out by the Russian Air Force and by Assad regime forces; further notes that doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, patients and civilians have been killed in huge numbers as a result of these barbaric and unjustifiable attacks; notes that these attacks make it much more difficult for Syrian civilians to access essential healthcare within their own country; observes that schools and other civilian infrastructure have also been targeted, leading to loss of life among teachers and children; further observes that these attacks are very accurate and that the targeting of civilian infrastructure is deliberate; notes that this contravenes international law and the rules of warfare, including the Geneva Conventions which call for parties to conflict to take action to ensure the safety of medical teams operating in warzones; condemns in the strongest possible terms the deliberate targeting of medical facilities and medical workers; calls on the Russian government to respect the Geneva Conventions, to which it is a State Party, and immediately desist from targeting attacks at civilians, the wounded or at those carrying out medical or humanitarian work; and calls on the Government to do all it can to support medics and humanitarian organisations operating in Syria and to protect healthcare workers and civilians.

This motion has been signed by a total of 30 MPs.