A man rides a motorcycle in front of damaged buildings in the rebel-held town of Nairab, Idlib region, Syria
New York:
The UN Security Council on Saturday approved aid deliveries to Syria via a border crossing from Turkey, a day after its six-year humanitarian operation ends, leaving millions of Syrian civilians in limbo.
The UN describes aid provided by Turkey as a “lifeline” for Syrians in the northwest of the country. The 15-member council was deadlocked, with most members opposed to the Syrian allies Russia and China, who abstained on Saturday during the council’s fifth vote this week on the issue.
The veto powers that Russia and China wanted to halve the approved border crossings of Turkey, arguing that northwestern Syria can be reached from inside the country. They also wanted to include language that Western diplomats have said imposes unilateral sanctions on Syria for the humanitarian crisis.
German Ambassador to the United Nations, Christoph Heusgen, told his Chinese and Russian counterparts to report to their capital that he had asked: “How did these people who gave instructions to cut aid to 500,000 children. .. are they ready to look in the mirror tomorrow. “
The members of the Council were also divided on the renewal of the authorization for six months or one year. The short resolution finally adopted on Saturday, drafted by Germany and Belgium, simply authorized a crossing for one year.
“Russia is still in favor of humanitarian deliveries to Syria with full respect for the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and with the coordination of its legal government. This issue should not be politicized,” said the MEP. Russian UN envoy, Dmitry Polyanskiy, after the vote.
Twelve members voted for, while the Dominican Republic also abstained. The successful vote came after two failed votes on the Russian proposals and two vetoes by Russia and China of the resolutions drafted by Germany and Belgium.
Acting British Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Allen said after the vote that the loss of access to aid via the Bab al-Salaam border crossing would deprive “1.3 million people in the north western Syria of the cross-border humanitarian aid on which they depend. “
Germany and Belgium said in a joint statement after the vote: “A single border crossing is not enough, but no border crossing would have left the fate of an entire region in question”.
When the Security Council first authorized the cross-border aid operation in Syria in 2014, it also included access from Jordan and Iraq. These passages were cut in January due to opposition from Russia and China.
Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun said China still has reservations about delivering cross-border aid, but given the current situation in Syria, it does not object to it being maintained “at this stage”. Although he added that “it should be adjusted accordingly in the light of developments on the ground”.
Russia has vetoed 16 Council resolutions on Syria since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad suppressed protesters in 2011, leading to civil war. For many of these votes, Moscow was supported in the council by China.
(Report by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler and Daniel Wallis)
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
