UN concerned at ‘unacceptable conditions’ set by Damascus to use Bab Al-Hawa border crossing to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid for millions of rebel areas in northwest Syria , according to a document consulted on Friday July 14 by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Syrian authorities announced on Thursday that they authorized the United Nations (UN) to use this crossing point between Turkey and Syria for six months, but their letter “contains two unacceptable conditions”, according to this document transmitted to the Security Council on Friday by the Office Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which is concerned about the ban on speaking to entities “designated as ‘terrorists'” and the “oversight” of its operations by other organizations.
Syria’s announcement followed the expiration on Monday of the mandate of the UN mechanism allowing since 2014 the crossing of the border of UN convoys to rebel areas without authorization from Damascus. The Security Council this week failed to extend it, after Russia, a key Damascus ally, vetoed a nine-month extension.
The Syrian government’s authorization “can be a basis for the legal conduct of UN humanitarian operations through the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing,” OCHA said. But while with the mechanism, the UN was at work, the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, who considered that the mechanism constituted a violation of its sovereignty, imposed conditions.
“Two unacceptable conditions”
Of the two conditions deemed “unacceptable” by OCHA, “the government emphasized that the United Nations should not communicate with entities designated as terrorists,” the document notes.
However, the UN and its partners “must continue to engage with relevant state and non-state actors, which is operationally necessary to conduct safe and unhindered humanitarian operations,” said the UN office. Such dialogue is essential to gaining safe and timely access to civilians in need.”
The Damascus letter also calls for oversight by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (CARC). A request “neither in accordance with the independence of the United Nations nor practical, given that the ICRC and the RCAF are not present in the Syrian North-West”, insists the OCHA.
The UN document also notes that the request that the delivery of aid be done “in full cooperation and coordination with the Syrian government” deserves to be studied and “clarified”.
“Non-interference” and “impartiality”
Earlier in the day on Friday, the spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, recalled that there had been “no passage of UN humanitarian aid to Bab al -Hawa” since the Security Council’s mandate expired on Monday evening.
“We are consulting with various partners. We are looking at the terms set out in the letter,” Dujarric said. “The principles that guide us in Syria and everywhere else are our commitment to deliver humanitarian aid based on humanitarian principles of non-interference, impartiality, etc. This is the only way to distribute humanitarian aid, “he said, recalling that the UN has pre-positioned aid in Syria in the event of the expiry of the mandate.
The ICRC delegation in New York, for its part, told AFP that “the scale of the needs in Syria requires a comprehensive and unrestricted approach”. “We welcome the steps to relieve the plight of millions of people in northwestern Syria” and “we stand ready to provide support within our capabilities and with the consent of all parties involved,” he said. added the ICRC.
According to the UN, 4 million people in northwestern Syria, mostly women and children, need humanitarian assistance to survive after years of conflict, economic shocks, disease outbreaks and growing poverty aggravated by devastating earthquakes. The mechanism, which expired on Monday, was helping 2.7 million people each month.
Despite the closure of Bab Al-Hawa, two other crossing points are still operational, authorized by President Assad after the February earthquakes. But that authorization expires on August 13. And Bab Al-Hawa saw 85% of UN humanitarian aid transit to rebel areas.
