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The Syrian army has again begun heavy shelling in the restive city of Homs after the Arab League peace plan was derailed. Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution that backed the peace plan calling on President Assad to form a national unity government.



Philip Jennings, General Secretary of UNI Global Union said, “The escalating violence in Syria is totally unacceptable. Innocent families caught up in the fighting have been killed or injured. Our thoughts are with them and the thousands of others in danger. We urge the international community to exert more pressure to remove Assad who has lost his right to rule because of the illegal actions of the army under his command.”

“More than 5,000 people have been killed, many more injured and thousands remain in prison. The situation is bound to get worse, as the country slides further towards all-out civil war between reformers and a regime that has no legitimacy. The international community must step up pressure for Assad and his entourage to step aside and a process of democratisation, with the development of civil society organisations including genuine trade unions, to begin. The alternative will be further carnage and increasing risk that the conflict will spread,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

The UN stopped estimating the death toll in Syria after it passed 5,400 in January, on the basis it was too difficult to confirm. Syria's interior ministry has said operations against "terrorist groups" would continue until "security and order are restored" in Homs.