UN News Today 05 December 2025 |

The UN human rights office says Syria remains gripped by serious violence and rising abuses one year after the fall of the Assad regime, despite initial efforts by the interim government to prevent reprisal attacks and sectarian conflict. 

Speaking in Geneva on Friday, OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said commissions on transitional justice and missing persons have been created, and trials have begun in certain cases, but serious violations are continuing:

“We continue to see distressing accounts of summary executions, arbitrary killings and abductions, mainly targeting members of certain communities and individuals affiliated or accused of affiliation with the former government.”

Hundreds have been killed over the past year, with abuses including sexual violence, arbitrary detentions, forced evictions and rising hate speech. 
Communities such as Alawites, Druze, Christians and Bedouins have been disproportionately affected.

OHCHR says Israeli military operations have also continued, with reports of civilian casualties and arrests.

High Commissioner Volker Türk is urging the authorities to address the root causes of the violence, stressing that accountability and security for all Syrians are essential for a successful transition.

The UN rights office now has eight staff members in Damascus after gaining provisional approval to operate inside Syria, but access across the country remains limited due to insecurity.

The UN says the humanitarian situation in northern Mozambique is deteriorating sharply, as prolonged attacks by armed groups in Nampula drive one of the biggest displacement surges of the year.

Paola Emmerson, Head of Office for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, in Mozambique, said many families had already fled multiple times and now have almost no time to recover before violence forces them out again.

“So far, 107,000 people have left their homes in Nampula…In the last four months, altogether 330,000 people were displaced. The majority had fled more than once — 89 per cent had already fled in the past. They barely had time to recover when they again had to leave due to attacks or fear of attacks.”

OCHA says the latest wave is unusual, with attacks lasting for weeks rather than short, sporadic raids. 

The vast majority fleeing are children, who now face heightened protection risks and a lack of shelter, food, healthcare and clean water.

Humanitarian stocks are already running out, and some people are beginning to return to unsafe areas because assistance has not reached them.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says two-thirds of the displaced are children, warning of grave violations including abductions and recruitment, as well as rising malnutrition and disease risks. The agency says the violence is pushing families “to breaking point”, with essential services overwhelmed and the cyclone season about to begin.

And finally, UNICEF warns that more than 4.1 million children across Southeast Asia have had their education disrupted in recent weeks, as relentless typhoons, floods and storms continue to batter the region.

Children in Viet Nam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have seen schools damaged, homes destroyed and essential services pushed beyond capacity, in many cases for the second, third or even fourth time this year.

UNICEF Deputy Spokesperson Ricardo Pires told journalists in Geneva on Friday that children are waking up in evacuation shelters, drinking unsafe water, and facing increased risks of disease, malnutrition and violence as families struggle to recover from repeated climate shocks.

He said more than three million students in Viet Nam have been affected, nearly 920,000 in the Philippines, and tens of thousands more in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, with many classrooms submerged, damaged or destroyed.

UNICEF says it is supporting governments with safe water, health and nutrition services, emergency cash assistance and education supplies, but stresses that humanitarian aid alone is not enough.

Katy Dartford, UN News