In less than two weeks, the UN Security Council will face a decisive choice that may be the choice of life or death for millions of Syrians, after the expiration of the council's resolution authorizing cross-border humanitarian assistance to Syria on the tenth of this month.

The American website "The Hill"

published an article by

Zaher Sahloul and Rabah Turbi, two doctors and academics at American universities involved in efforts to confront the humanitarian crisis in Syria, in which they call on the UN Security Council to vote to renew Resolution No. 2165 issued by it, which was approved in July / July 2014, and allowed the opening of 4 humanitarian border crossings into Syria for use by United Nations agencies and their partners to provide humanitarian aid inside the country, without the approval of the state.

Lifeline

The authors explain that the cross-border humanitarian operation into Syria is an unrepeatable lifeline for the nearly 4 million people in the northwest of the country, half of whom are displaced people living in temporary shelters.

The article noted that the international community has largely failed the Syrian people for 10 years, and that must change.

He added that it would be unacceptable for members of the Security Council not to increase the number of humanitarian crossings into Syria, at a time when humanitarian needs increased by 21% between 2020 and 2021.

Like a death sentence

The article noted that without cross-border operations and the provision of medical supplies and medicines, many of these facilities, including surgical wards and neonatal units, would not be able to function.

He added that vetoing the renewal of the decision would be inhumane, as would a death sentence for those in dire need of medical care.

He explained that the Corona crisis has left new needs that will be impossible to address without cross-border aid operations, and that this is a critical moment, as Syria is witnessing a second wave of the pandemic since last May, during which injuries have nearly doubled in the northwest of the country.

The authors note that the failure to reopen the crossings from Turkey means that supplies such as personal protective equipment, test kits, medical oxygen and vital medicines will be cut, crippling more of the crumbling health infrastructure in northern Syria and putting lives at risk.

Moreover, the authors say, the vaccination campaign against the emerging coronavirus in this part of Syria could be halted, undermining efforts to end the epidemic in the region and the world.

Food insecurity

The authors consider the growing malnutrition crisis as one of the other major health risks facing the population.

According to the World Food Program, a record number of Syrians are now food insecure.

They emphasized that there is broad consensus among aid agencies that cross-border humanitarian operations are the most direct - and often the only - way to reach the millions of children, women and men in dire need of relief in Syria.

The article referred to what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that failure to extend the Security Council's mandate would have serious consequences.

The authors concluded their article by saying that the interference of political and geo-strategic interests in the provision and delivery of aid contributed to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Syria, describing this as reprehensible and unreasonable.