Aid to rebel-held northwest Syria from Turkey will surely continue

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The delivery of humanitarian aid to rebel-held northwest Syria from neighboring Turkey is almost certain to get the green light to continue Monday from the U.N. Security Council, but the big question is for how long. The council's current authorization for aid deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing is set to expire on Monday, but the council has two competing extension resolutions before it votes. A Russian resolution would continue aid deliveries for six months and a Brazil-Switzerland resolution backed by a majority of council members and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would authorize a 12-month extension. Aid delivery to the area has increased significantly following the devastation caused by the  magnitude earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria on February 8. Syrian President Bashar Assad opened two additional crossing points from Turkey to increase the flow of assistance to earthquake victims, extending their operation by three months in May until mid-August.

These crossings are not mentioned in any resolution. Syria's northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom have been forced from their homes during the 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly Job Function Email Database half a million people and displaced half of the country's pre-war population of 23 million. . Hundreds of thousands of people in Idlib live in tent settlements and depend on aid arriving through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. The earthquake caused more than 4,500 deaths in northwestern Syria and some 855,000 people saw their homes damaged or destroyed, according to the UN UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on June 29 that the conflict in Syria has pushed 90% of its population into poverty and that millions face cuts in food aid in July due to a shortfall. Of funds. He said the U.N.'s $5.4 billion humanitarian appeal for Syria, the world's largest, is only 12 percent funded, meaning emergency food aid for millions of Syrians could be cut by 40 percent this year.



World Food Program needs $200 million to avoid food cuts. The Security Council initially authorized aid deliveries in 2014 from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan through four crossing points to opposition-controlled areas in Syria. But over the years, Syria's close ally Russia, backed by China, has reduced authorized crossings to just Bab al-Hawa from Turkey, and the mandate from one year to six months. Russia has pushed for more aid to be delivered across front lines inside Syria, which would give the Syrian government control over shipments. It has also promoted early recovery projects to generate jobs and help the country's economy. The Russian draft resolution “underscores the imperative of maintaining sustainable and unimpeded cross-border access from Damascus to all parts of Syria.” Calls for intensified efforts to expand humanitarian activities to include water supply, sanitation, health, education, electricity, demining and shelter. It also calls for “the non-interference of unilateral sanctions in humanitarian operations in Syria.