UN chief: Syria peace must not be dependent on Assad

Depending on the fate of President Bashar al-Assad for the peace prospects to end the Syrian crisis is unacceptable, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.

“It’s up to [the] Syrian people, who should make a decision about the future of President Assad,” Ban told reporters during his end-of-the-year press conference in New York.

“But, at the same time, I also believe that it is unacceptable that the whole Syrian crisis and the solution to this crisis has to depend upon just the question of the fate of one man. That’s not acceptable,” he added.

The Syrian civil war, which started in March 2011 when the Assad regime responded to anti-government protests with a violent crackdown, has left more than 250,000 people dead, according to UN figures.

The crisis has also drawn world and regional powers into the conflict, with the main sticking point in peace and diplomacy efforts being the fate of Assad.

Ban said the world powers attempting to hammer out a plan to end the conflict will hold their next meeting in New York on Friday, followed by a meeting of the UN Security Council.

“Syria is an open sore on the Middle East and the wider world. We are pressing for a nationwide cease-fire and for the start of negotiations in January on a political transition, and we must not relent,” he said.

The first two rounds of talks were held in Vienna where ministers from nearly 20 nations agreed to establish a UN-backed cease-fire and begin peace talks by Jan. 1.

The UN chief also said the year 2015 has seen “epic flows of refugees and internally displaced people”.

“As we enter 2016, the world needs to aim for a new global compact on human mobility. Demonizing and scapegoating these people based on their religion, ethnicity or country of origin has no place in the 21st century,” he said.

The Syrian civil war has made the country the world’s single-largest source of refugees and displaced people, as nearly four million Syrians are now refugees and at least 7.6 million have been internally displaced, according to the UN.

Neighboring Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, is now the largest refugee-hosting country in the world with more than two million Syrian refugees on its soil.

Ban added that the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit meeting in May in Istanbul will be a critical moment to address systemic funding problems, and agree on concrete steps to better prepare for and respond to crises.