UNSC extends cross-border aid delivery to Syria until July

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The UN Security Council agreed on Monday to extend a resolution on cross-border aid delivery to Syria by six months until July 10, 2023, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The resolution will allow the United Nations to deliver aid through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing on the Turkish-Syrian borders.

The document requests that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres report back on the analysis of the situation by June 10.

Additionally, the text says the resolution "calls upon all Member States to respond with practical steps to address the urgent needs of the Syrian people in light of the profound socio-economic and humanitarian impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Syria."

On July 11, 2022, the UN Security Council extended the cross-border aid mechanism in Syria for six months in a compromise resolution that accommodated Russia's concerns regarding the issue.

The resolution passed with 12 member states out of 15 voting in favor, while three member states, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, abstained. The abstaining nations said they wanted a resolution that provided for an automatic extension of the mechanism after the first six months.

If a separate resolution is approved, the aid mechanism can be extended for another six months. The approved resolution asks for a special report of the Secretary-General on the issue.

Norway and Ireland produced a resolution that is very similar to that of Russia, which had been previously voted down. Western countries sought to automatically extend the mechanism for 12 months, but Moscow made it clear that it could only support a six-month extension.

Russia stressed that it wanted the cross-border mechanism to be gradually substituted by a cross-line mechanism for aid delivery, and it believes that only that mechanism allows Damascus to control its sovereign territory.

Cross-border aid deliveries go through the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey to Syria's Idlib, which harbors a lot of internationally acknowledged terrorists. The process is not fully transparent, and it is unknown what's going on there and how the aid is delivered to those in need.

A similar situation in the UNSC happened in 2021; the cross-border mechanism was extended for six months with a possible extension as a result of lengthy talks between Russian and US negotiators.

Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh, said that delegates, including the Russian and Chinese delegates, made efforts to highlight ways to improve the humanitarian situation and the delivery of aid to Syria.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Al Mayadeen on December 22, Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh said "without lifting sanctions on Syria, the Security Council sessions cannot achieve anything." 

"The United States, Britain, and France are hostile to Syria, and to any efforts to end the crisis," Sabbagh added.

Syria's permanent representative revealed that "there are attempts made by the three countries to obstruct the mechanism for letting aid enter Syria," adding that, "there will be negotiations starting from now until the expiry date of the resolution related to the entry of aid into Syria, in about 20 days."