UN official hails extension of aid crossing to Syria for another year

A UNITED Nations official responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid to Syria welcomed the extension of authorization for aid crossings through the Cilvegözü border gate in southern Turkey for another year.

During a visit to the U.N. aid loading facility in the Reyhanlı district of Hatay province, near Turkey’s border with Syria, Mark Cutts commented on the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) move to extend the authorization of cross-border aid mechanisms for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria through Turkey for another year.

Cutts said millions of Syrians need humanitarian assistance. The majority of this aid reaches the region through the vital Cilvegözü border gate.

The official continued by saying that the aid materials go to needy families in cities such as Idlib, Azaz, Jarablus, Afrin, and alBab through Turkey, and that over 1,000 vehicles carrying aid crossed into Syria via Cilvegözü .

The UNSC decision ensured that food, medical equipment, tents, water and personal care products would be sent to the region without interruption, Cutts added.

The UNSC agreed to extend its decision authorizing Turkey’s Cilvegözü border gate for U.N. aid sent to northwest Syria for the next 12 months.

The decision will be implemented for an initial six months and then extended for another six months based on the report of the U.N. Secretary-General.

The UNSC agreed to extend the crossborder aid operation after Russia allowed a compromise in last-minute talks with the United States.

The international community was concerned that Russia, which holds veto power at the council and is a staunch ally of the Syrian regime, might block the renewal, preferring to see aid delivered across front lines from Damascus as it argues the crossing is used to supply arms to opposition fighters.

The Security Council approved four border crossings when deliveries began in 2014, three years after the start of the Syrian conflict. But in January 2020, Russia used its veto threat in the council to limit aid deliveries to two border crossings, and in July 2020, its veto threat cut another. So today, aid can only be delivered through the Bab al-Hawa crossing from Turkey to Syria’s oppositionheld northwest.

Some 3 million people live in oppositiondominated northwest Syria, more than half displaced by the country’s decadelong conflict. Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Over the past decade, around half a million people have been killed, and more than 12 million civilians have had to flee their homes.