Bags of food are loaded at Bab al-Hawa Photo: AFP
The agreement for international aid deliveries for millions of people in the Syrian rebel areas expired on Monday for the time being because the UN Security Council did not agree on an extension in good time. A vote scheduled for Friday was postponed to Monday and then postponed to Tuesday morning local time, the AFP news agency learned from British UN circles in New York. The UK currently chairs the UN Security Council.
The agreement for international aid deliveries for millions of people in the Syrian rebel areas expired on Monday for the time being because the UN Security Council did not agree on an extension in good time. A vote scheduled for Friday was postponed to Monday and then postponed to Tuesday morning local time, the AFP news agency learned from British UN circles in New York. The UK currently chairs the UN Security Council.
With the future of the cross-border mechanism for supplies across the Turkish-Syrian border unclear, aid convoys were halted on Monday evening. They cannot be resumed until United Nations approval has been obtained.
The 15 members of the panel had struggled for days to reach a compromise. According to diplomats, a draft resolution tabled by Brazil and Switzerland provided for a one-year extension, but Russia insisted on six months. An extension of nine months is now being negotiated.
According to the UN, four million people in Syria are dependent on deliveries of food, water and medicine. The aid deliveries will be handled via the Turkish-Syrian border post at Bab al-Hawa. This is the only route through which UN aid can be delivered to the Syrian people without having to pass through areas controlled by Syrian government forces. The UN mandate for this has existed since 2014 and must be renewed every six months.
Damascus and Moscow, a close ally of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, see the UN deliveries as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty. Russia intervened militarily in the Syrian war in 2015. As a result, the tide turned in favor of Assad, whose troops were able to recapture a number of areas.
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