ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Northeast Syria (Rojava) is in an “especially difficult” situation as border crossing closures stunt access to vital humanitarian aid, the United Nations (UN) director for a human rights group has warned, on the eve of a UN Security Council (UNSC) decision on border crossing status. In a move that sought to facilitate aid delivery to millions of beleaguered Syrians, Belgium and Germany introduced a draft resolution to the UNSC to extend the opening of the Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa border crossings with Turkey, and to reopen Rojava’s al-Yarubiyah border crossing with Iraq. The section on al-Yarubiyah was removed upon Russian demand, but Moscow also rejected the new version of the proposal, leading to it being scrapped. Only China joined Russia in vetoing the proposal. Russia - a main backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - wants all humanitarian aid to enter through regime-held areas, forcing Kurdish-majority Rojava to rely on aid deliveries from distant Damascus. Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told Rudaw English on Thursday that Syrian civilians - especially those living in Rojava - lack access to international aid. “Certainly, Kurdish areas are in an especially difficult position,” he said when asked if Kurds were particularly affected by border crossing closures. Russia proposed in January to keep only the Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa border crossings open, and maintain closure of al-Yarubiyah and a Syria-Jordan border crossing. The proposal was voted on by all members of the Security Council on January 10. That mandate was “particularly devastating for the people of northeastern Syria,” Charbonneau said. Rojava is home to thousands of Islamic State-affiliated people in camps and fighters in prisons in addition to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people who have fled clashes from elsewhere in the country. There are 1.9 million people in need of humanitarian aid in the area, according to the Rojava Information Center (RIC), a local monitor. ‘Catastrophic’ al-Yarubiyah closure January’s maintained closure of al-Yarubiyah, which connects Rojava to Iraq’s Nineveh province, has proven particularly disastrous for the area, local experts say. "The sole UN aid crossing into North and East Syria has been closed for six months. We have already seen the impact of this decision, with severe shortages across health centers in Raqqa and some being forced to close, shortages in al-Hol Camp medical center, and NES denied access to basic coronavirus aid,” RIC researcher Thomas McClure told Rudaw English via Whatsapp. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), Rojava’s Kurdish-led administration, has received tens of tonnes of medical aid from the World Health Organisation via Damascus since January. However, urgently needed aid to Rojava, a quasi-autonomous region since the initial years of Syrian uprising, has frequently been subject to delay by Damascus. “As the Assad regime ramps up the pressure on the NES and tries to force the region to acquiesce to its demands, the fear is that UN decision will not only worsen the rapidly-developing humanitarian crisis in NES, but allow the Assad regime to continue to manipulate UN aid to exert pressure on NES,” McClure told Rudaw English. HRW’s Charbonneau described al-Yarubiyah’s closure as having a “catastrophic” effect on northeast Syria, due to “the lack of medicines, proper medical care, the inability of hospitals to remain functioning.” Decisive Friday All 15 members of the Security Council will meet on Friday to make a final decision on the status of Syrian border crossings. To date, Russia has seemed determined to prevent the reopening of al-Yarubiyah and the continued opening of Bab al-Salam, one of the Syria-Turkey crossings. “We have also made a point to Russia. They acknowledge that the situation is difficult. It is just that we don’t agree with them with the solution,” said the HRW director. Charbonneau expressed disappointment that 13 members of the Council, which he said have so far supported his organisation, may compromise on Friday. “I am worried that some members of the Security Council have given up. They said ‘Okay, Russia simply won’t allow a border crossing to the northeast’ and that they will just throw their hands in the air. Well, this is a death sentence for so many of those IDPs. They cannot simply walk away. We need to find a solution and persuade Russia to see reason.”
