(The Irish Times) – The situation in Syria is deteriorating rapidly and poses a threat to the peace and security of the region and the world, United Nations humanitarian officials based in Damascus said on Tuesday. Speaking to the press in Geneva, Yacoub Hillo, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Syria, called the war there “the most devastating crisis of the 21st century”. He said half the country’s population was internally displaced or in exile, and 67 per cent living in poverty. “Syrians are almost losing hope that the world cares,” he said, adding that Syrians could no longer “pay the price of political failure” to end the war.
