Newsdeck

COVID-19

Lives will be lost as Syria aid access cut, aid agencies warn

Lives will be lost as Syria aid access cut, aid agencies warn
epa08538880 International humanitarian aid at Bab al-Hawa Turkey- Syria border crossing, Syria, 09 July 2020. Accoriding to local media sources and various NGOs operating in northwestern Syria, the UN humanitarian agencies mandated by the UN Security Council Resolution 2504, which aimed to allow transborder aid delivery into northwestern Syria, is due to expire on 10 July. If it is not renewed in its current form or another, the about 3 million people in the area who depend on it will be deeply affected. The resolution allowed UN agencies to deliver the aid to the rebel held areas without permission form the Syrian government through two specific border crossings. EPA-EFE/STR

BEIRUT, July 12 (Reuters) - A U.N. Security Council resolution that leaves only one of two border crossings open for aid deliveries from Turkey into rebel-held northwestern Syria will cost lives and intensify the suffering of 1.3 million people living there, aid agencies said.

Western states had pressed for aid access to continue through two crossings at the Turkish border, but Russia, President Bashar al-Assad’s main ally in his war against, and China vetoed a last-ditch effort on Friday to keep both open.

“In northwest Syria, where a vital cross-border lifeline has been closed … it will be harder to reach an estimated 1.3 million people dependent on food and medicine delivered by the U.N. cross-border,” aid agencies operating in Syria said in a joint statement.

“Many will now not receive the help they need. Lives will be lost. Suffering will intensify.”

“With the first case of COVID-19 confirmed in Idlib, an area with a severely weakened health infrastructure, this is a devastating blow,” the statement added.

In a separate statement, Physicians for Human Rights said the resolution had shut down “direct routes to hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians in dire need of food and medicine”.

Russia and China have argued that the northwest can be reached from within Syria, meaning via government-held territory, and that aid deliveries from Turkey violate Syria’s sovereignty.

“This issue should not be politicized,” deputy Russian U.N. envoy Dmitry Polyanskiy said after the vote.

Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Council members buckled and gave Moscow what it wanted – a further drastic reduction of cross-border aid to desperate Syrians who rely on it for survival.” (Reporting by Tom Perry and Stephanie Nebehay Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Gallery

"Information pertaining to Covid-19, vaccines, how to control the spread of the virus and potential treatments is ever-changing. Under the South African Disaster Management Act Regulation 11(5)(c) it is prohibited to publish information through any medium with the intention to deceive people on government measures to address COVID-19. We are therefore disabling the comment section on this article in order to protect both the commenting member and ourselves from potential liability. Should you have additional information that you think we should know, please email [email protected]"

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.