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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria (Rojava) said on Saturday that they reject the UN resolution regarding extending the reopening of a border crossing between Syria and Turkey, demanding the inclusion of a border crossing under their control as well.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously voted on Friday to extend cross-border aid operations into Bab al-Hawa crossing in northwest Syria for six months. The crossing is held by Turkish-backed Syrian militants and connects Turkey’s Hatay province to Syria’s Idlib province.
“This extension decision comes as a punishment against five million people in northern and eastern Syria,” read a statement from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), or Rojava, on Saturday.
The statement added that the decision is also “a clear confirmation that there are some parties that are politically exploiting the humanitarian situation in Syria, and this is absolutely incompatible with the responsibilities of the UN Security Council and the United Nations and its humanitarian institutions.”
It also rejected the resolution for “not taking into consideration the humanitarian situation in Syria,” which “deepens our human tragedy with the continuation of the siege imposed on the region from all sides.”
There are 15 camps for the displaced in Syria, which include people from Iraq and Western countries, according to NES. There are nearly 60,000 people affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) in the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka city. Rojava is also home to hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the Turkish invasion of northern cities.
NES said it is not against the reopening of any border crossing, including Bab al-Hawa, but “we are against double standards,” demanding the reopening of al-Yarubiyah (Tel Kochar) border crossing between Rojava and Iraq. It used to be a key access point for UN aid but was closed in 2020.
The decision has also been criticized by Amnesty International for being “insufficient to meet the overwhelming humanitarian needs of the civilian population.”
“The closing of two additional crossings last year has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in both north-west and north-east Syria. Authorizing just the single crossing at Bab al-Hawa once again for one or possibly two six-month periods is essential but minimal and remains woefully insufficient to meet the overwhelming humanitarian needs of the civilian population,” said the head of Amnesty’s UN office Sherine Tadros on Friday.
Dilgash Fatim, co-president of the Kurdish Red Crescent, told Rudaw last week, that they hope the Tel Kochar crossing is reopened so that “we can meet the demands of the refugee camps and our people can receive aid, especially at this time when everyone has been gripped by the coronavirus."
“The WHO [World Health Organization] should deliver aid to us the way they did to the government [of Syria]. We have received very little aid in the past and it has never been enough for our people," he added.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously voted on Friday to extend cross-border aid operations into Bab al-Hawa crossing in northwest Syria for six months. The crossing is held by Turkish-backed Syrian militants and connects Turkey’s Hatay province to Syria’s Idlib province.
“This extension decision comes as a punishment against five million people in northern and eastern Syria,” read a statement from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), or Rojava, on Saturday.
The statement added that the decision is also “a clear confirmation that there are some parties that are politically exploiting the humanitarian situation in Syria, and this is absolutely incompatible with the responsibilities of the UN Security Council and the United Nations and its humanitarian institutions.”
It also rejected the resolution for “not taking into consideration the humanitarian situation in Syria,” which “deepens our human tragedy with the continuation of the siege imposed on the region from all sides.”
There are 15 camps for the displaced in Syria, which include people from Iraq and Western countries, according to NES. There are nearly 60,000 people affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) in the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka city. Rojava is also home to hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the Turkish invasion of northern cities.
NES said it is not against the reopening of any border crossing, including Bab al-Hawa, but “we are against double standards,” demanding the reopening of al-Yarubiyah (Tel Kochar) border crossing between Rojava and Iraq. It used to be a key access point for UN aid but was closed in 2020.
The decision has also been criticized by Amnesty International for being “insufficient to meet the overwhelming humanitarian needs of the civilian population.”
“The closing of two additional crossings last year has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in both north-west and north-east Syria. Authorizing just the single crossing at Bab al-Hawa once again for one or possibly two six-month periods is essential but minimal and remains woefully insufficient to meet the overwhelming humanitarian needs of the civilian population,” said the head of Amnesty’s UN office Sherine Tadros on Friday.
Dilgash Fatim, co-president of the Kurdish Red Crescent, told Rudaw last week, that they hope the Tel Kochar crossing is reopened so that “we can meet the demands of the refugee camps and our people can receive aid, especially at this time when everyone has been gripped by the coronavirus."
“The WHO [World Health Organization] should deliver aid to us the way they did to the government [of Syria]. We have received very little aid in the past and it has never been enough for our people," he added.
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