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At the UN, on the evening of January 10, the mechanism of cross-border points through which humanitarian aid passes to the Syrians was greatly reduced. Consequence: from this morning on January 11, 1.3 million people in the northeast of the country will no longer have access to drugs, equipment or medical personnel. The text of the agreement was negotiated hard by the Russians, who had already vetoed a first version in December, and who did not hide their objective of limiting it.
With our correspondent in New York, Carrie Nooten
Until the last minute last night, the Russian ambassador to the UN will have negotiated every point of the resolution co-drafted by his Belgian and German counterparts. In order not to have to close all its crossing points, and thus deprive four million people of humanitarian aid in Syria, the Security Council allowed itself to be cornered by the Russian negotiations. In the end, he had no choice but to sacrifice aid to the northeast of the country.
Two points only
The final text submitted to the vote no longer provided for the renewal of only two cross-border points with Turkey , and this for six months, while the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office had asked in December to renew the authorizations to pass the four points for one year.
One of the points that will close this morning at Al Yarubiyah, on the Iraqi border, was the only access point for medicines and medical equipment. US Ambassador Kelly Craft lambasted the negotiations: “ The Syrians will suffer needlessly because of this resolution. Syrians are going to die because of this resolution. Let me be very clear: it is the Russian Federation which brought us there and who will be responsible for the result. "
alternatives
The Council asked the UN General Secretariat to propose alternatives to the delivery of medicines by the end of February 2020.
► Syria: nearly 235,000 people have already fled the fighting around Idleb