Displaced people are afraid that their fate will return to the grip of Assad

Humanitarian aid turns into a front in the Syrian conflict

• The suffering of the refugees is exacerbated.

  Reuters

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Having fled their homes, to escape the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, many Syrians live in the rebel-held northwest, fearing that their fate will be once again in his hands.

Russia, Assad's main ally, wants UN aid to reach the region through Damascus, not through Turkey, raising fears that the food they depend on could fall into the hands of the same person who oppresses them.

The mandate of the United Nations to provide aid through Turkey through the Bab al-Hawa crossing expires tomorrow.

While Western members of the council want to extend and broaden the mandate, veto-wielding Russia and China are wary of renewal.

Russia did not participate in negotiations on this issue, last Tuesday.

When the opposition was defeated in Ghouta, near Damascus, Husam Kahil fled to Idlib in 2018. Kahil says there is no confidence that the Syrian authorities will allow aid to pass through if supply lines change.

The 36-year-old remembers extreme starvation in 2014, when the Syrian army laid siege to Ghouta, and even had to eat animal feed.

He says that the situation in Idlib is good, but a humanitarian catastrophe will occur if they close the crossings.

He added that two of his brothers died due to lack of medical supplies and supplies during the siege, which UN investigators have described as the longest in modern history.

UN aid across the Turkish border is a way for millions of Syrians to continue to deliver food, medicine and water, in the last area still under the control of the anti-Assad opposition.

commitment

Syria says it is committed to facilitating aid deliveries from within the country.

The Syrian Ministry of Information did not respond to questions via e-mail from Reuters in this regard.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that the Red Cross and Red Crescent should be allowed to monitor if there were suspicions or suspicions of thefts, although he ruled out this.

Russian influence

The dispute represents a diplomatic front in a war that has been stalemate for years, as Moscow and Damascus seek to reassert state sovereignty over a corner of Syria outside their control.

Since regaining control of the greater part of Syria, with the help of Russia and Iran, Assad has found it difficult to advance beyond that, as Turkish forces represent an obstacle in his way in the northwest, as well as American forces on the ground in the Kurdish-controlled east, in which the territories extend agricultural and land routes to Iraq and the oil fields.

Whether in government-controlled territory or elsewhere, Syria is reeling under the yoke of an economic crisis.

New US sanctions, imposed last year, are ravaging Assad's plans for reconstruction and economic recovery, of which little has been achieved.

"This is a moment of influence for Russia ... a dispute over strategic advantage in which humanitarian issues are used as a fulcrum," said Joshua Landis, president of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

"It is unfortunate that the Syrian people are the real losers in this battle between Russia and the United States," he added.

Washington wants to renew the mandate, as does Turkey, which exercises its influence in the northwest, with its support for the armed opposition, and with the presence of Turkish forces on the ground.

The United Nations warned that failure to renew the aid operation would have a devastating impact on millions.

"We don't want to see these people turned into pawns on the chessboard in a political game," said Mark Cutts, the UN's deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis.

"It is a shame that we are talking about limiting access, at a time when we must expand the operation," he added.

The United Nations says that the number of people dependent on aid in the northwest has increased by 20%, reaching 3.4 million in one year.

trustless

Russia points to US sanctions as the cause of the humanitarian problems.

Washington rejects this accusation, and says its sanctions are aimed at cutting money off the Assad government.

The UN mandate was approved in 2014, when Assad was in a retreating position.

The authorization initially allowed for shipments to be delivered from four locations.

Opposition from Russia and China have reduced these sites to one location in the past year, and Russia says the process is outdated, outdated by events.

And the reality throughout the years of the war has proven that delivering aid across the battlefronts is difficult, if not impossible.

"We've asked for cross-line convoys to enter many times, because we want to have as much access as possible from all sides, but the war is not over," Katz said.

"In such an atmosphere, it is very difficult to get the consent of the parties on both sides for the convoys to move and cross the front line," he added.

Among the armed rebels in northwest Syria are groups designated as terrorist by the United Nations Security Council.

Katz said that United Nations supervision prevented the transfer of aid to armed groups, expressing concern that the absence of such oversight may raise concerns among donors.

The Secretary-General of the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation involved in the relief operation, Dormus Aydin, told "Reuters" that the delivery of aid by passing through the front lines does not seem possible at the present time.

"One of the reasons why this solution is not realistic is the people's lack of confidence in the Syrian government and Russia," he added.

Russia, Assad's main ally, wants UN aid to reach the region through Damascus, not through Turkey, raising fears that the food they depend on could fall into the hands of the very person who oppresses them.

UN aid across the Turkish border is a way for millions of Syrians to continue to deliver food, medicine and water in the last area still under the control of the anti-Assad opposition.

• Reality has proven throughout the war years that the delivery of aid across the battle fronts is difficult, if not impossible.

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