Tensions with Russia complicate the discussions that open up to the UN on the routing of convoys.
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The fate of the 4.4 million inhabitants of northwest Syria is suspended from negotiations which were to open on Tuesday, July 5, to the United Nations Security Council. On July 10, the UN resolution authorizing the routing of humanitarian aid to this region from southern Turkey will arrive at expiration. The rise in tensions between the United States and Russia, in the wake of war in Ukraine, complicates the search for a compromise. Westerners call for the renewal of the cross -border mechanism (“crossborder”) for a year, while Moscow pleads for its replacement by a system of transporting aid through the front lines (“crossline”) from Damascus. “If we close the border with UN aid, we condemn these people to death,” alerts Tanya Evans, head of the Syrian file at the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
Thirty-two NGOs, including IRC, Signed a call in favor of the renewal of the cross-border mechanism. UN officials have warned that a failure would cause a humanitarian “disaster”. “People live on the edge of the abyss, they are no longer able to cope,” said Antonio Guterres, UN secretary general. Under the combined effects of war, the economic slump in which the country is bogged down and the conflict in Ukraine, humanitarian needs in Syria have reached an never seen level. More than 14.6 million inhabitants depend on international aid, including 12 million which are in a situation of food insecurity. The 6.7 billion donations promised to the Brussels conference in May will only cover half of the needs for 2022-2023, according to the UN.
The situation is particularly alarming in the northwest where the population, half-composed of displaced, is dependent on the assistance that arrives from Turkey. Without this aid, residents of the region are likely to know famine, to lose access to water, housing and medical care. Women and children, who represent 80 % of beneficiaries, are the most vulnerable. “There is an increase in child work and early marriages, and suicides also in children,” observes Tanya Evans. However, according to Sherine Ibrahim, Turkey Manager for the NGO Care, “more than 80 % of the protection services provided by the United Nations are affected by the closure of the border”.
ritual opposition
In 2014, Russia voted for resolution 2165 establishing the cross -border delivery mechanism. But, since 2019, it ritually opposed its renewal, arguing that this system constitutes a violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian regime. By brandishing the threat of a veto, Moscow forced Westerners to restrict this mechanism, by gradually closing three of the four crossing points initially used by the UN.
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