2016-04-29
The Australian government should focus on diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in Syria, in the wake of the tragic Médecins Sans Frontières hospital bombing in Aleppo, the Australian Greens said today.
"We should withdraw our forces immediately, and dedicate our considerable diplomatic capacity and our resources to a humanitarian response. The last thing we should be doing is further adding to the chaos in Syria", Australian Greens Co-Deputy Leader and Foreign Affairs spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said today.
"We've seen time and again that continuing military intervention in the Middle East makes diplomatic efforts even more challenging than they already are. But it is the real human tragedy that is most sickening. 27 people including doctors and patients were killed in this bombing.
"Any time civilians, and especially hospitals, are attacked, the people responsible should be accountable, There is never a more crucial time to respect international law than in times of crisis like Syria is suffering.
"For the US to condemn this latest atrocity on the very day that it announced there will be no charges laid against the personnel responsible for the October 2015 bombing of the MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan is dangerously hypocritical. Double standards of this sort further inflame tensions.
"There should be a full independent investigation into the tragedy in Aleppo, just as there should be in Kunduz. Hospitals are not, and should never be, targets," Senator Ludlam concluded.