The Syrian regime informs the Security Council of its agreement to enter aid through the Bab al-Hawa crossing for a period of 6 months
On Thursday evening, the Syrian regime announced that it had granted the United Nations and its specialized agencies permission to use Bab al-Hawa crossingto deliver humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria, for a period of six months, provided that this matter is in coordination with the government of the regime, after the failure of the UN Security Council to renew the mandate, due to a Russian veto, on Monday.
In a letter sent by the Syrian regime’s ambassador to the Security Council, Bassam Sabbagh, to the UN Security Council, it was stated that the decision came “in light of the intransigence of some countries in the Security Council, and their perseverance in rejecting any serious improvements to the draft resolution on extending the effects of Security Council Resolution 2672, and their obstruction of the Russian draft resolution “.
In his letter to the Security Council, the representative of the Syrian regime demanded to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent Organization to supervise the facilitation and distribution of humanitarian aid in areas controlled by the Syrian opposition forces.
For his part, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed, in a statement reported by Anadolu Agency, that the Security Council had received a message from the Syrian regime about allowing the entry of aid through the Bab al-Hawa crossing for an additional period of 6 months, and said: “I can confirm that we have received the message and have begun to study it.”
This comes after Russia vetoed a Brazilian-Swiss draft resolution, which called for renewing the mechanism for introducing cross-border humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria through Bab al-Hawa, for nine months.
Thirteen countries voted in favor of the resolution, China abstained, and Russia vetoed the bill. A draft resolution needs nine votes to pass, provided that none of the permanent members use a veto.
Britain: More than a million Syrians depend on aid
In the first official reaction from a Western country in the Security Council to the letter, the British Ambassador to the United Nations, Barbara Woodwood, commented, “The level of humanitarian needs in northwest Syria has reached a record level. 4.1 million Syrians depend on aid through Bab al-Hawa for their survival.” life”.
Her comment came in a statement issued by her office and added, “Under the mandate of the United Nations, Bab al-Hawa was subject to an impeccable international standard for monitoring the entry of aid, to ensure that it was not misused. In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in February, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and aid workers Those on the front lines are clear that the borders must be open for at least 12 months.”
The UN Security Council had started the cross-border mechanism in 2014, and cross-border aid entered through four border crossings, Bab al-Hawa and al-Salam from Turkey, and additional crossings from Jordan and Iraq.
With the passage of time, and due to Russian objections, with Chinese support, the number of border crossings through which aid is entered into the northwest and areas outside the control of the regime began to be reduced to one crossing, which is Bab al-Hawa, until the tenth of this month.
For the entry of humanitarian aid into any country, the United Nations requires the approval of the government of that country or a mandate from the Security Council to enter aid, which has happened since 2014 and the cross-border mechanism, because the regime did not agree at that time to enter it, until Russia thwarted the renewal of the mechanism through Bab al-Fawa earlier. of the week using her veto.
In this context, the British ambassador added, “After stopping work at the four border crossings that were started in 2014 to one crossing until this week,” the Russian veto ended the only lifeline (i.e. the Bab al-Hawa crossing). Now President Assad said he will open Bab al-Hawa for six months.”
Britain: The priority “must be for aid to flow quickly again to the people who need it
“But without UN monitoring, control of this lifeline has been handed over to the man responsible for the suffering of the Syrian people,” she added.
And she stressed that the priority “must be for aid to flow back quickly to the people who need it, and then to obtain guarantees about its future. We will not hesitate to raise this again in the Security Council.”
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2023-07-13 23:00:23
