Syria: concern over the delivery of humanitarian aid to Idleb

Bab al-Hawa on the Syrian-Turkish border, in Idleb governorate, Syria, June 30, 2021. REUTERS - MAHMOUD HASSANO

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

It is currently the only border post through which the UN can deliver humanitarian aid in northwestern Syria: Bab al-Hawa provides a link between the province of Idleb and Turkey.

But the resolution allowing its use by UN agencies expires this Saturday, July 10.

And for now, Russia is opposed to its renewal, demanding that humanitarian aid be channeled through Damascus and pass through the Syrian regime.

An uncertainty that worries humanitarian actors present in the province of Idleb, where 2.4 million Syrians live, more than half of whom are displaced.

Publicity

Read more

Last Friday, hundreds of humanitarian workers gathered near Bab al-Hawa. They wanted to warn about the importance of maintaining these United Nations convoys. NGOs cannot replace the UN, warns Joël Ghazi, Médecins sans frontières project coordinator for Idleb: “ 

The sad reality is that we cannot replace the UN, as MSF. We clearly do not have the same means as the United Nations. So we will not be able to replace them. We will clearly look at the different needs and see which one is really more critical than the other. You choose between two evils, it is really a very difficult situation in which we are going to be, and we will not be the only ones

. "

Russia, an ally of Bashar al-Assad's regime, would like aid to pass through Damascus and be channeled through the front lines to the province of Idleb.

But this system does not work well, says Joël Ghazi, remembering the difficulties in delivering humanitarian aid to rebel areas that have been besieged by regime forces.

" 

Finally he let it pass just to reduce diplomatic pressure a bit," he

analyzes. 

But when you looked at the lists of hospitals, presented by different doctors for their operations, what they received was not even 10% of their needs ..

.

"

Until December 2019, three other border posts were used to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria.

Three of them have since been closed to UN convoys.

► 

See also:

Washington asks its allies to repatriate their IS fighters detained in Syria

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Syria

  • Bashar al-Assad

  • UN

  • NGO