UN must open Syrian borders for humanitarian aid: Blinken

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The US Secretary of State has warned of the dire situation in Syria, calling on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to reopen borders for humanitarian aid.

“The Council should reauthorize all three border crossings for humanitarian assistance, including two it unconscionably allowed to close,” Antony Blinken said in a virtual press briefing on Monday. 

In July, the UNSC passed a resolution to open Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Turkey and Syria's rebel-held Idlib province, through which the UN is currently providing aid to Syria.

However the Bab al-Salam border crossing between Aleppo and Turkey, and the al-Yarubiyah border crossing between northeast Syria (Rojava) and Iraq remains closed.

“Security Council members should stop taking part in or making excuses for attacks that close these pathways, and they should stop targeting humanitarian workers and Syrian civilians,” Blinken added, saying humanitarian assistance should not be politicized. 

A decade of war has crippled the country and left millions of Syrians displaced and heavily dependent on humanitarian aid. 

“Ten years since the grassroots uprising against the Assad regime, that crisis is more dire than ever,” said Blinken. “An estimated 13.4 million people, two in every three Syrians, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.”

“Sixty percent of Syrians are at serious risk of going hungry,” he added.

The UN estimates some 13.4 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian aid and protection. 

The need for aid deliveries has become more crucial in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 912,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been allocated to Syria through the COVAX system. Of this, 90,000 doses will be given to Rojava and 224,000 will be delivered to Turkish-held areas in northwest Syria through  the Turkish border, head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Syria Akjemal Magtymova told Rudaw English earlier in March.

The COVAX system was created for nations and people who may not otherwise be able to access vaccines, such as refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), and asylum seekers. It is expected to amount to 5 percent of the vaccine doses supplied globally.