UNSC Authorizes 1-year Extension Of Cross-border Aid Deliveries To Syrians

UNITED NATIONS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Dec, 2018 ) :The UN Security Council has extended its authorization for another year to allow UN humanitarian operations to use border crossings for aid deliveries into Syria.

Resolution 2449, sponsored by Kuwait and Sweden, was adopted by a vote of 13-0, with Russia and China abstaining.

Under the terms of the resolution, the 15-member Council allowed the UN humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners until Jan. 10, 2020 to use routes across conflict lines and the border crossings, including Bab al-Salam, Bab al-Hawa, Al Yarubiyah and Al-Ramtha, in order to ensure that assistance reaches people in need throughout Syria.

U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock thanked the council for approving the resolution, saying that cross-border aid provides a critical lifeline for millions of Syrians who cannot be supported through other means.� You have done your part; we will now do ours to sustain aid in a way that is as effective and accountable as possible, he said.

Lowcock said the situation is especially very challenging in northwestern Syria, where some 3 million people remain dependent on cross-border aid.

While a pause in airstrikes has been positive, he said, shelling and fighting continues in and around the demilitarized zone and recent hostilities forced nearly 15,000 people to flee their homes to neighboring villages.

Lowcock also warned that Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, remains on the edge of a humanitarian disaster.

He said a further escalation of violence would quickly overwhelm the ability of humanitarian agencies to respond. He urged the warring parties to end the violence and head of the humanitarian catastrophe that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned about.

However, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia complained that the text was outdated as one of those crossings was now back in Syrian government hands and the situation elsewhere in the country had changed.

"The fact that the stabilizing trends are strengthening in Syria is undeniable ... Despite remaining problems there are positive steps in improving the humanitarian situation," Nebenzia said.

"This is a critical moment and the international community needs to now give a helping hand to the Syrians in order to overcome the devastation and making sure that people who voluntarily decided to return can live normally," he added.

China's U.N. Ambassador Ma Zhaoxu said international aid operations in Syria should "scrupulously observe the principles of neutrality, impartiality and non-politicization." But Western countries say they will not approve reconstruction funding for Syria, or drop sanctions on the Syrian government, without a political settlement to end the more than seven-year conflict.

As in its previous authorization, the council reaffirmed its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.

According to the UN data, more than 13 million people in Syria need urgent humanitarian assistance, of whom 6.2 million are internally displaced, and more than 1 million people are still living in hard-to-reach areas.

The UN and their partners reached on average 5.4 million people with humanitarian aid each month in 2018. Life-saving assistance delivered across borders represented a vital part of this, including the delivery of food assistance for on average one million people monthly this year.