Germany calls for compromise over UN vote on Syria aid
Latest drat measure calls only for the Bab Al Hawa crossing to be maintained ‘for a period of 12 months; 2 doctors test positive for coronavirus in rebel-held north
The UN Security Council was due to vote again on Saturday on an extension of cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria ater Russia and China vetoed a previous measure to the chagrin of Western member states.
Authorisation for the transport of aid to wartorn Syria, a system in place since 2014, expired on Friday following the two countries’ veto earlier in the day and the subsequent rejection of a counterproposal by Moscow.
Saturday’s vote was to be on a new drat text submited overnight by Germany and Belgium, which would provide for a single aid access point into Syria.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called in a tweet on Saturday “on all delegations to no longer obstruct a compromise.”
European countries and the US had wanted to maintain two crossing points on the Turkish border — at Bab Al Salam, which leads to the Aleppo region, and Bab Al Hawa, which serves the Idlib region.
The latest drat measure calls only for the Bab Al Hawa crossing to be maintained “for a period of twelve months,” according to a text obtained by AFP. The Council would also ask the UN secretary-general for a report “at least every 60 days.”
UN authorisation allows the international body to distribute aid to displaced Syrians without needing permission from Damascus.
But Russia and China argue that the authorisation violates Syria’s sovereignty, and that aid can increasingly be channelled through Syrian authorities.
Russia, Syria’s closest ally, has for weeks argued that Bab Al Salam should be removed as an access point, particularly as it leads to the Aleppo region.
Bab Al Hawa, on the other hand, allows for aid to be funnelled to nearly four million people in the insurgent Idlib region, which the Syrian regime does not control.
Western member states reject Russia’s arguments that authorisation for cross-border aid violates Syrian sovereignty.
Those countries maintain that there is no credible alternative to the cross-border system and argue that Syrian bureaucracy and politics are preventing an effective flow of aid in areas not controlled by the Syrian regime.
The US has gone so far as to describe having two entry points as “a red line.”
The 15 members of the Security Council have until midday Saturday to submit amendments to the latest text before the vote.
Russia has asked for two things — a mention of the impact of unilateral sanctions on Syria (an implicit jab at the United States and Europe), and a statement acknowledging improvements in aid delivery carried out under the Syrian regime.
However, those amendments have litle chance of being adopted.
China, for its part, has called for an amendment highlighting the work of UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, “in particular his appeal for an immediate global ceasefire.”
Kevin Kennedy, the UN’S Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said that leaving only one crossing open would make aid delivery more time-consuming, more costly, and more dangerous in a territory that is controlled by different armed groups.
“The pipeline to aid people should not be subject to these political considerations from any side in this conflict,” Kennedy said late Friday.
A day ater the detection of the first COVID-19 case, hospitals in northwest Syria announced they would be suspending non-emergency procedures and outpatient services for at least one week. Schools were to shut down until further notice.
In January, Moscow succeeded in having the crossing points reduced from four to two and in limiting the authorization to six months instead of a year.
At least two doctors in Syria’s oppositionheld northwest have been infected with the coronavirus, according to a monitoring group on Saturday, raising the total number of cases in the overcrowded rebel enclave to three.
The Early Warning and Alert Response Network, which reports on the virus, said the two doctors had been in touch with patient zero, another doctor who works in a hospital in Idlib.