Yesterday morning, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to extend the mechanism for introducing humanitarian aid across the border into Syria, but with a new downsizing of the mechanism imposed by Russia on Western countries.
The Security Council agreed to enter humanitarian aid to Syria through one Turkish crossing, the day after the expiry of the six-year humanitarian process with a mandate from the United Nations, which affects millions of Syrian civilians.
The 15-nation council reached a dead end with most members standing against Russia and China, two Syrian allies, who abstained on Saturday, the council’s fifth vote on the issue in a week.
Russia and China expressed their desire to reduce the number of crossings to one crossing, and said that humanitarian aid could reach northwestern Syria from within the country.
The council was also divided over renewing the mandate for six months or a year. The decision, prepared by Germany and Belgium and finally approved on Saturday, authorized the use of one crossing for a year.
"Russia has always supported the introduction of humanitarian aid to Syria with full respect for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity and in coordination with its legitimate government," said Russia's deputy envoy, Dmitry Polianski, after the vote. "This issue should not be politicized." 12 countries voted in favor of the draft resolution, and the Dominican Republic abstained as well.
In connection, aid agencies said that the Security Council resolution, which decided to open one crossing instead of two border crossings to deliver aid from Turkey to Syria, would lead to loss of life and further suffering of the 1.3 million Syrians living in the region.
Aid agencies operating in Syria said in a joint statement: "In northwestern Syria, where a vital cross-border artery has been closed, it is difficult to reach an estimated 1.3 million people who depend on food and medicine provided by the United Nations across the border."
"Many will not receive the assistance they need now," the statement added. Lives will be wasted. And the suffering will increase. ”
In a separate statement, Physicians for Human Rights said that the Security Council resolution closed the "direct roads for hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians who are in urgent need of food and medicine."