New Zealand has told the United Nations Security Council more needs to be done to stop the carnage in Syria.
Opponents attack the Assad regime with rockets in Aleppo, Syria. Photo: AFP
New Zealand's deputy permanent representative to the UN, Carolyn Schwalger, said the council had watched Syria disintegrate to a country in ruin and despair, and it needed to find a renewed will to put aside its differences.
Ms Schwalger said New Zealand supports calls for a humanitarian assessment mission to besieged areas, as there are reports there's a lack of medical treatment.
She also says the burden on Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq in relation to the increasing number of refugees is unsustainable.
Despite this, the prime minister yesterday said it was unlikely there would be an increase in the number of refugees New Zealand takes.