UN Security Council inaction on Syria 'past unacceptable' says Murray McCully

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Foreign Minister Murray McCully says the Security Council's inability to get a resolution to the conflict in Syria is "past unacceptable" and more should be done.

New Zealand currently has a seat on the Security Council and Mr McCully said there was more it should do to try to address the problems in Syria.

"The fact the Security Council has not managed to find a resolution amongst the parties is just past unacceptable. We are doing everything we can to try to create some sort of resolution that will enable the humanitarian challenges to be addressed."

He said New Zealand was pressing for that and the space between the positions of the United States and Russia had got a lot smaller over the past few months. "It's not that big and it should be able to be bridged. We keep pressing for a resolution on these issues."

Mr McCully said it was unfair to accuse New Zealand of doing little for Syrian refugees, saying it was one of only about 20 countries which took an annual quota of refugees from the UNHCR.

"The idea that New Zealand is not, amongst other nations, a bit generous on this stuff is not fair. But I think with the pressures emerging at the moment, the Government is going to see what it can usefully do."

The Government has come under fire for refusing to commit to take more refugees as the crisis in Syria deepens and Prime Minister John Key has now signalled that it is looking at increasing the quota or providing for a set emergency allocation for Syrian refugees. It set aside 100 of the 750 quota places for Syrians last year - but only 83 were taken. A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said the other 17 refugees either turned down their place for family or other reasons, or did not meet Immigration medical requirements.

He said the Government was likely to provide further financial aid for countries such as Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan where most the refugee camps were. It had already given about $15.5 million to help cope with the influx of refugees and was involved in a joint project with Turkey to set up a school for the refugee children and similar work in Jordan.