Syria
Aid workers form a human chain at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Syria's Idlib and Turkey, calling on the UN Security Council to keep the border open to aid, on July 2, 2021. Photo: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Russia has proposed keeping a border crossing into Syria open to United Nations aid for another six months, AFP reported. The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote on Friday on extending the cross-border aid delivery mandate for the Bab al-Hawa crossing between Turkey and Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province.
A draft resolution from Ireland and Norway seeks a one-year extension of the mandate.
Russia submitted its own proposal on Thursday that suggested a “possible prolongation” after the six months, a diplomatic source told AFP.
Russia, a close ally of the Syrian regime, has argued that all humanitarian aid can be delivered through Damascus. Three other border crossings, including one from Iraq into Syria’s northeast, were shuttered to UN aid after Russia and China used their veto power.
Millions of Syrians in the country’s northwest depend on the food and medical aid delivered through Bab al-Hawa by about a thousand trucks every month.
“We have a massive aid operation going because on the other side of this border there are more than four million civilians trapped in a warzone. About two million of them are living in camps. Many of them are living in desperate conditions without enough food or medical supplies,” the UN’s deputy regional humanitarian coordinator Mark Cutts said in a video message from the border on Wednesday.
“It’s vital that we keep this aid operation going. So many lives depend on it. This is the last lifeline these people have,” he added.
The mandate for Bab al-Hawa expires on Saturday.
Across Syria, millions more people are suffering from extreme hunger, according to a new report from Oxfam. In 2019, some 6.6 million Syrians were in “crisis-level hunger or worse.” A year later, that number nearly doubled. “Three in five Syrians – 12.4 million people – currently face acute hunger,” Oxfam stated.
“The COVID-19 economic fallout on top of the effects of 10 years of conflict led to a dramatic depreciation of the local currency and a 313% increase in the average food basket price in just 12 months. Conflict has also hit Syria’s vital agricultural infrastructure, devastating farmers’ income and food production,” the reported added.
Women-headed households have been hit the hardest. “To cope, some families have had to resort to early child marriage to sustain themselves,” Oxfam stated.
A draft resolution from Ireland and Norway seeks a one-year extension of the mandate.
Russia submitted its own proposal on Thursday that suggested a “possible prolongation” after the six months, a diplomatic source told AFP.
Russia, a close ally of the Syrian regime, has argued that all humanitarian aid can be delivered through Damascus. Three other border crossings, including one from Iraq into Syria’s northeast, were shuttered to UN aid after Russia and China used their veto power.
Millions of Syrians in the country’s northwest depend on the food and medical aid delivered through Bab al-Hawa by about a thousand trucks every month.
“We have a massive aid operation going because on the other side of this border there are more than four million civilians trapped in a warzone. About two million of them are living in camps. Many of them are living in desperate conditions without enough food or medical supplies,” the UN’s deputy regional humanitarian coordinator Mark Cutts said in a video message from the border on Wednesday.
“It’s vital that we keep this aid operation going. So many lives depend on it. This is the last lifeline these people have,” he added.
The mandate for Bab al-Hawa expires on Saturday.
Across Syria, millions more people are suffering from extreme hunger, according to a new report from Oxfam. In 2019, some 6.6 million Syrians were in “crisis-level hunger or worse.” A year later, that number nearly doubled. “Three in five Syrians – 12.4 million people – currently face acute hunger,” Oxfam stated.
“The COVID-19 economic fallout on top of the effects of 10 years of conflict led to a dramatic depreciation of the local currency and a 313% increase in the average food basket price in just 12 months. Conflict has also hit Syria’s vital agricultural infrastructure, devastating farmers’ income and food production,” the reported added.
Women-headed households have been hit the hardest. “To cope, some families have had to resort to early child marriage to sustain themselves,” Oxfam stated.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment