Ongoing closure of al-Ya’rubiyah crossing affects IDPs in NE Syria
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – The ongoing closure of al-Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher) border crossing negatively affects about one million IDPs and the whole population of North and East Syria, an official in the Social Affairs and Labor Committee of the Raqqa Civil Council, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said on Wednesday.
On Jan. 9, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted unanimously approved to extend delivering border-crossing aid from Turkey to the opposition-held area in northwestern Syria.
Jihad Hassan, the co-chair of the Social Affairs and Labor Committee, said that the closure of Tel Kocher crossing will negatively affect all residents of North and East Syria.
There are more than five million people in the region, including about one million IDPs who need support and aid, Hassan told North Press.
The IDPs of the makeshift camps in Raqqa face harsh humanitarian situations due to the harsh winter and lack of supplies since no NGOs are operating there.
The closure of the crossing came in accordance with the policy of Turkey, Russia, and the Syrian government, Hassan noted.
Hassan called on the UNSC to neutralize the crossings from the political bargains to facilitate humanitarian aid access to North and East Syria without passing through government and opposition held areas.
There are 58 makeshift camps in the countryside of Raqqa need dire humanitarian aids especially in winter, according to Hassan.
He mentioned that the committee is working on securing heating fuel for these camps, since three of them received their fuel allocations, while the work is underway to distribute fuel in other camps.