UN extends cross-border humanitarian aid mechanism for Syria

Published on : 07/09/2021 – 22:03

Members of the UN Security Council voted unanimously on Friday July 9 to extend the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Syrian population via Turkey. A mechanism set up without the backing of Damascus, and which was the subject of a compromise between Moscow and Washington.

The duration of the extension is interpreted differently by the United States, for which it is one year, and Russia, which considers that it is six renewable months according to a report expected at the end of the year. year of the UN Secretary General.

Diplomats said a new vote in six months was not mandatory. The resolution decides on an extension of the mechanism for the only access point of Bab al-Hawa, on the northwestern border of Syria with Turkey, “with an extension of an additional period of six months, it that is to say until July 10, 2022, subject to the publication of a substantial report by the Secretary General “.

This report should put “particular emphasis on the transparency of operations and progress on access via the front lines to meet humanitarian needs,” said the resolution. Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, stressed that after the recent summit in Geneva of Presidents Vladimir Poutine and Joe Biden, the agreement on an extension of the mechanism was “historic”.

“For the first time, Russia and the United States not only managed to come to an agreement, but they also presented a common text supported by all the colleagues of the Council”, he underlined. “We hope that this scenario will represent a turning point that will benefit not only Syria but also the entire Middle East region and the whole world,” added the Russian diplomat.

Main support of the Syrian regime, Russia has long campaigned for the end of this cross-border mechanism for the benefit of aid channeled through the front lines from Damascus, in order to recognize the regime’s full sovereignty over Syrian territory.

Rare moment of unity

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield also praised rarely seen cooperation with Russia. “It is important that the United States and Russia were able to join forces in a humanitarian initiative that serves the interests of the Syrian people,” she said after the vote.

“And this is an important moment for the UN and the Security Council, which have shown today that we can do more than just talk. We can work together to find solutions and implement actions,” said insisted the American diplomat.

“Thanks to this resolution, millions of Syrians can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that vital humanitarian aid will continue to flow to Idleb through the Bab al-Hawa border post,” said the ambassador, who had said. demanded at the start of the negotiations three access points to Syria.

Created in 2014, the cross-border mechanism of the UN has been exercised for a year by the only access point of Bab al-Hawa, after a consequent reduction of the device imposed by Russia in 2020. At the rate of a thousand of trucks per month, this access makes it possible to serve more than three million people in the region of Idleb (north-west), the last opposition stronghold beyond the control of Damascus.

While the West and Russia agree that the humanitarian situation is worse today than it was a year ago, Moscow considers Western sanctions to be the main reason, which the Europeans deny. United States and Europeans.

In a statement, the NGO Human Rights Watch denounced the maintenance of a single point of access to Syria. “Once again, Russia has succeeded in blackmailing the international community into allowing only one passage for UN cross-border aid in Syria,” argued Louis Charbonneau, director for the United Nations. United Nations within the NGO. “While it is good that some of the UN cross-border aid continues to flow into the north-west, many people in the north-east will be denied aid,” he said. .

With AFP