New UN envoys for Syria crisis heading to Damascus

The United Nations said today that the new envoys tasked with advancing a peaceful settlement to the ongoing conflict in Syria will travel to Damascus for consultations starting Tuesday.

Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura and Deputy Envoy Ramzy Ezzedine Ramzy were appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in July to provide good offices aimed at bringing an end to all violence and human rights violations, and promoting a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria that began in March 2011 and has brought untold suffering to millions of people in the country.

This will be the first visit to Syria for the envoys since assuming their functions at the beginning of this month. In Damascus, they will hold consultations with Syrian officials, according to a note issued to the media.

This will be followed by a first round of visits to countries in the region, to be continued with visits to other capitals during October and after the conclusion of the High-level Debate in the UN General Assembly, which is set to begin on 24 September.

Over 191,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict in Syria, which has also sent 3 million people fleeing to neighbouring countries in search of refuge and left a further 6.5 million displaced inside their war-torn homeland.