UN Extends Cross-Border Aid to Syria for Six Months

JUL 12 2022·Updated DEC 15 2022

Story

Image credit: OCHA [via UN News]

The Facts

The UN Security Council has agreed to reauthorize cross-border humanitarian aid to internally displaced people (IDPs) in rebel-held northern Syria for six months following a vote on Tues. The resolution was submitted by Ireland and Norway, and was supported by twelve countries with France, the UK and the US abstaining.
UN News
On Fri., Russia vetoed a resolution, also put forward by Ireland and Norway, that would've reauthorized cross-border aid to Syria by one year. The resolution didn't have the support of Damascus, but a UN mandate would've enabled it to pass without the backing of Syrian Pres., and Russian ally, Bashar al-Assad.
Al Jazeera
Moscow had put forward an alternative proposal of a six-month extension that would require active renewal in Jan. 2023 but the plan was voted against by the UK, US, and France, with other nations abstaining.
BBC News
Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason stated: "It's no secret that this has been a difficult negotiation." A sentiment echoed by Norway's ambassador, Mona Juul, who claimed after the vote that "the cross-border operation is their [the IDPs] lifeline and today, the cross-border operation remains."
UN News
According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 4.6K aid trucks carrying food have passed through the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Syria-Turkey border this year.
Middle East Eye
OCHA has estimated 13.4M Syrians needed aid last year, with the poverty rate reportedly standing at 90%. Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, almost half a million have been killed and half of the pre-war population has been displaced.
Middle East Eye

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The Spin

Anti-Russia narrative

Humanitarian need in Syria is the highest it has ever been - making a 12-month renewal imperative to provide greater operational and ethical reassurances. Despite the passage of this resolution, greater humanitarian security hasn't been achieved on behalf of the Syrians who desperately need help and the politically motivated opposition to such provision by the likes of Russia and Syria is morally unjustified.

ReliefWeb

Pro-Russia narrative

Only if western nations facilitate an open and substantive dialogue will the whole of the Security Council be able to assess whether the Syrian cross-border humanitarian aid mechanism (CBM) is working. Russia will follow the implementation of its resolution closely to ensure cross-line deliveries to the whole of Syria are enhanced and sanctions on the nation are lifted, given the disruption caused by COVID. If the UN satisfies these provisions, Russia will be open to supporting extensions.

TASS