The ongoing crisis in Syria shows the dilemmas faced by humanitarian agencies and their “persistent deficiencies in response” said the Guardian in an editorial on Tuesday, urging the international community to learn lessons from Sri Lanka.

“In November 2012, an internal report into the shortcomings of the United Nations in the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka urged: never again,” said the Guardian. “The secretary general embraced it, speaking frankly about the UN’s failure to meet its responsibilities and the need to learn lessons.”
Working in Syria has led to humanitarian organisations making “difficult choices” it continued, but added the United Nation’s decisions “are of deep concern to many within the organisation as well as outside it”.

“It is worth considering the precedents again,” it said. 

“The 2012 Sri Lanka review found that the UN had failed to adequately confront the government over its obstructions to humanitarian assistance. Thousands died from inadequate medical care and lack of food. In at least one instance, the report noted, the expectation that the UN would not confront the government may have influenced the latter’s actions.”

“The UN now faces calls for an independent inquiry into its actions. Such a review would be valuable. But the record shows that asking the right questions and drawing the appropriate conclusions are one thing; putting them into action is the much harder but more important task.”

See the full editorial here.