ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas of Syria is delayed again as the United Nations temporarily gives up on pushing Damascus to authorize airdrops opting instead to focus on getting approval for ground deliveries. “Our main focus is on land delivery, given the challenges in terms of safety and logistics of air deliveries,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. In mid-May, co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, discussed ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid and enforcement mechanisms for those who would block deliveries. Lavrov noted that airdrops are “the most expensive, the most complicated, the most dangerous option,” and a “last resort.” A June 1 deadline was set for Damascus to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged areas of the country. A limited convoy of aid reached the Daraya suburb of Damascus on June 1, which has been without food aid since 2012. On June 2, the US, UK and France accused Syria of failing to respect the deadline and called on the UN to begin airdrops. Ramzi Essedine Ramzi, UN deputy special envoy for Syria, confirmed at the time that the “process that will lead to airdrops has already started.” Airdrops “are now the last resort to relieve human suffering across many besieged areas,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on June 2. On June 3, the UN Security Council met to discuss the issue of airdropping aid to Syrians. At the council meeting, UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien said that a formal request for permission to carry out airdrops would be made to Damascus on June 5. UN officials, however, did not make such a request and instead sought approval from Damascus for ground convoys to deliver medicine and food aid to 34 areas of the country. “If at some point, we decide that the land access will not be granted, we will look more at the airdrop option,” said Dujarric. Damascus had given approval for aid agencies to access 23 of the 34 besieged areas. The UN has given Syria until June 10 to respond to the latest request to access all 34 areas, said a spokesperson for the UN office in Damascus, Linda Tom. If approval is not granted by June 10, “the UN will request approval for access by air wherever this is feasible,” Tom said. Nearly 600,000 people are living under siege in Syria and another four million live in hard to reach areas, according to the United Nations.
