UN envoy urges Security Council to expand aid access in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The United Nations special envoy to Syria on Friday told the Security Council it is vital to “maintain and expand” cross-border humanitarian aid delivery in order to save lives, adding that Syrians need the international community to work together to bring stability to the country after more than a decade of war. 

“Civilians across the country desperately need life-saving assistance and help building resilience. It is absolutely vital to maintain and expand access, including cross-border and cross-line operations. A large-scale cross-border response is essential for an additional 12 months to save lives. Your unity on this will be critical,” said special envoy Geir Pedersen.

The mandate for the last remaining border crossing open to UN aid deliveries will expire on July 10. Russian vetoes previously shuttered three other crossings to the UN and Russia is now under pressure at the Security Council to allow Bab al-Hawa, between Turkey and rebel-held northwest Syria, to remain open.

Speaking earlier this week at the Security Council, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said cross-border aid delivery is no longer necessary and humanitarian assistance can be directed through the Syrian government. “Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria is much more important” than maintaining the cross-border mechanism [CBM], he said. 

“Unless our Western colleagues both in words and deeds prove their commitment to this goal, there is no point in speaking about the renewal of the CBM. We still have some time before the ‘D-Day’. Hopefully it will not be wasted,” he added. 

Some 2.4 million Syrians depend on the food and medical aid sent through Bab al-Hawa. In more than a decade of conflict, half the country’s pre-war population has been forced to flee their homes. Rising prices, food and fuel shortages, lack of medicines, and water shortages means millions in the country are struggling to survive. “The convergence of an economic crisis and a humanitarian crisis will continue to have dramatic consequences if not addressed,” said Pederson. 

Pedersen also called for the Security Council to cooperate on bringing in a nationwide ceasefire, pointing to recent escalations with attacks on a hospital in Afrin and civilian deaths in southern Idlib. 

“I need not remind you that there are five foreign armies jostling inside Syria. Syrian territory is split into a number of de facto zones, with the country’s sovereignty seriously compromised,” he said. “A patchwork of regional de-escalation and ceasefire agreements – in which Russia, Turkey and the United States are key players – have brought about 15 months of relative calm between those zones. But Mr President, there is a danger that existing arrangements could unravel.”

“Syrian civil society – and indeed I think the vast majority of Syrians – are desperately looking for signals that the international community, despite their differences, can work together,” Pedersen added.