UNSC extends cross-border aid to Syria for six months
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, the UN Security Council approved to extend lifesaving aid deliveries into northwest Syria through Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey for a further six months.
12 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while the United States, Britain and France abstained from voting.
The authorization of aid deliveries through Bab al-Hawa from Turkey, which has been in place since 2014 and does not require backing from Damascus, expired on July 10, due to Russian-Chinese veto.
Two competing resolutions were rejected on Friday. The first one was a one-year-draft, put forward by Ireland and Norway and it was vetoed by Russia. The second was a six-month proposal, presented by Russia, which was only supported by Russia and China.
12 council members voted in favor of the Norway and Ireland draft resolution, while Russia opposed it and China abstained.
Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said Moscow would continue to veto any text other than its own.
Since July 10, 2020, Bab al-Hawa has been the only crossing kept open to UN aid based on the resolution 2533 (2020), while the use of the others was curtailed.
In July 2014, the UN Security Council adopted the Resolution 2165 which authorized the UN to deliver cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria through four crossings al-Ramtha crossing with Jordan, Bab al-Salam, Bab al-Hawa with Turkey, and al Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher) with Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), without the consent of the Syrian government.
According to UN data, 14.6 million Syrians rely on humanitarian assistance, the highest ever recorded. Across Syria, 12 million individuals face acute food insecurity – a staggering 51 percent increase since 2019.