Pressure builds on Russia to keep Syrian border open to aid

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Pressure is building on Russia at the United Nations Security Council to allow the extension of the mandate authorizing cross-border humanitarian aid delivery to Syria. The current mandate allowing aid deliveries to northwest Syria at Bab al-Hawa will expire on July 10.

“Despite the UN’s massive response in Syria and across the region, more humanitarian access is required to reach those most in need. That is why I have been clearly expressing how important it is to maintain and expand access, including cross-border and cross-line operations,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Bab al-Hawa, between Turkey and rebel-held northwest Syria, is the last remaining border crossing open to UN humanitarian aid deliveries. In 2019 and 2020, three other border crossings were shut to aid after Russia and China vetoed renewal of their mandates at the Security Council. 

Some 2.4 million Syrians depend on the food and medical aid sent through Bab al-Hawa. In May, the UN sent 979 truckloads over the border. It is “crucial that the cross-border mandate be renewed so that many of these people will continue to receive the humanitarian assistance needed for survival. Failure to renew the UN’s cross-border authorization would greatly diminish essential humanitarian operations and could plunge northwest Syria into yet another humanitarian catastrophe,” the UN’s humanitarian office stated in their latest report on Syria. 

Washington’s ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, visited Bab al-Hawa earlier this month. She told the Security Council on Wednesday that “people will die if we do not renew the mandate.”

Speaking to media after the meeting, she said she continues to raise the issue with her Russian counterparts, and US President Joe Biden discussed it with Russian President Vladimir Putin in their recent meeting.

Russia’s ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told the Security Council cross-border aid delivery is no longer necessary as the Syrian regime has regained “almost 90 percent of its territory and embarked on solid efforts to improve the life of its people.”

He described rebel-held Idlib as a “safe haven for terrorists” and said it is easier to send aid to vulnerable populations through the Syrian government. “If we want to make deliveries to Idlib more effective, we just need to have a look at the map – it is easier done from Aleppo in terms of both logistics and monitoring,” he said. 

Syria’s representative to the UN Bassam Sabbagh accused the Security Council of politicizing humanitarian assistance. “The reasons and circumstances that prompted its adoption no longer exist,” he tweeted.