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Syria
Abu Oussama and his family prepare to flee bombardment in the jihadist-held town of Maaret al-Numan in Syria's southern Idlib governorate on December 20, 2019. Photo: Omar Haj Khadour/ AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has condemned the vetoes of both Russia and China against a security council resolution to deliver aid to up to four million Syrians.
First adopted in 2014 to ensure the safe access of humanitarian aid for Syrians, Resolution 2449 had been continuously renewed by the security council until Friday, when it was vetoed by Russia and their Chinese ally. This is Moscow’s 14th veto on Syria-related resolutions since the start of the civil war in 2011.
“The Russian and Chinese vetoes of Resolution 2449 today is a new low. The price will be paid by the long-suffering people of Syria unless this decision is reversed before January 10,” said the organization, referring to the date when the current renewal of the resolution expires.
“For the last five years, this resolution- authorizing the UN and its partners to deliver aid cross-border into Syria- has been adopted by consensus and has offered a lifeline to millions of Syrians,” it added, warning that the veto “puts the cross-border humanitarian effort, and the lives of the millions who depend on it, in jeopardy.”
Drafted by Belgium, Kuwait and Germany, the resolution would have allowed the delivery of cross-border humanitarian aid to millions of Syrians in need for another year from two crossing borders in Turkey and one in Iraq, according to Reuters.
The current authorization allows aid to enter the country from four border crossings: two in Turkey, one in Iraq and one in Jordan.
IRC President and CEO David Miliband described the defeat as a “new age of impunity.”
“The fighting continues but the aid is stalled. The UN and its partners, including the IRC, depend on this resolution to reach millions of desperate and vulnerable Syrians trapped in an ongoing conflict,” he added.
IRC and other members of InterAction - the largest umbrella group of over 180 international NGOs and partners in the US - called on Thursday for the sixth annual renewal of resolution, adding that they have no other way to reach millions of Syrians in need.
“We urge the U.N. Security Council to maintain all four original border crossing points to ensure the resolution’s effectiveness and relevance to the humanitarian needs in Syria,” read the joint statement.
“There is no alternative to reach the millions of people in need at the scale and timeliness provided by cross-border operations. It is vital that the U.N. Security Council maintains the flexibility and responsiveness from all cross-border access points included in the resolution and allows humanitarian actors to operate with certainty and efficiency through renewing the mechanism for another twelve months,” it added.
The Syrian crisis has led to an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country in the last eight years.
Deputy U.N. aid chief Ursula Mueller had warned the council on Thursday that without the cross border operations “we would see an immediate end of aid supporting millions of civilians.”
“That would cause a rapid increase in hunger and disease, resulting in death, suffering and further displacement - including across borders - for a vulnerable population who have already suffered unspeakable tragedy as a result of almost nine years of conflict,” Mueller said, as reported by Reuters.
The recent Turkish Operation Peace Spring against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria has escalated the situation, putting hundreds of thousands of more Syrians in need of humanitarian aid.
The Russian-backed Syrian regime’s ongoing fighting against jihadists in the northwest province of Idlib has also displaced tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing dire conditions.
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