Cross-border aid in Syria: at the UN, the United States, Ireland and Norway press for an extension

“We can’t accept less than what we have today“, to know “a 12-month crossing point that supplies millions of Syrians“said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield after a closed Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria.

In effect since 2014, the UN cross-border authorization expires on Saturday. Some Western diplomats continued to believe its extension possible on Tuesday, even if it could only be for six months.

After a removal of several crossing points imposed last year by Russia, cross-border aid now only passes through Bab al-Hawa (north-west), on the border with Turkey. It serves more than three million people in the Idlib region, a last rebel stronghold that continues to escape Damascus’s control.

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Russia, which holds a veto right and supports Syria, wants to see the full sovereignty of the Syrian regime restored over all of its territory and has repeatedly stated in the past its opposition to a further extension of the authorization. cross-border.

At the meeting, Moscow is “remained in the same position, which has been clear for a long timea Russian diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“We hope to see a renewal later this week“Irish Ambassador to the United Nations Geraldine Byrne Nason said before the session, referring to the risk of failing to”a humanitarian disaster“. “There is a lot at stake“, added its Norwegian counterpart, Mona Juul.”It’s really a matter of life and death” for some “millions of people“”, she added.

These two ambassadors, in charge of the file, proposed a draft resolution providing for an extension for one year of the Bab al-Hawa point and a reopening, also for one year, of access via Iraq, to al-Yarubiyah. , which would supply, as in the past, northeastern Syria.

– “Western money” –

If Russia and China veto an extension of the cross-border mechanism, “the repercussions are obvious, people will starve“, added Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Like the West, Russia recognizes a worsening humanitarian situation in Syria but blames it on Western sanctions. Moscow considers that channeling aid from Damascus across the front lines could replace the cross-border mechanism.

“We will continue to work to support the delivery of aid across the front lines and increase cross-border capacity.“, indicated the American ambassador. But”going through the front lines is not a substitute for cross-border“, she insisted, rejecting the idea that the United States could ease its sanctions to obtain in return a softening of the Russian position.

China for its part “wants to see solutions on unilateral sanctions, crossing front lines, transparency of the cross-border mechanismChinese Ambassador Zhang Jun said.We do not only want an extension of the cross-border mechanism, but also the fight against unilateral sanctions, their impact, and also a future development of aid across the front lines.“, he said.

According to the French ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Rivière, since the beginning of the year “50% of requests to deliver humanitarian aid across the front lines were rejected by the Syrian regime“.

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“92% of humanitarian aid to Syria is provided by the European Union, the United States, Canada and Japan. It is essentially western money. No one should expect this money to be reallocated to routing through the front lines, which is not working.“, he also warned.