Türkiye, Western countries and the United Nations encouraged the extension of a resolution that allows the delivery of vital humanitarian aid into the besieged northwestern Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
The long-running aid operation has been in place since 2014, and the most recent six-month authorization is set to expire on Jan. 10, 2023.
Turkish Ambassador to the U.N. Feridun Sinirlioğlu addressed the U.N. Security Council meeting, saying the continued provision of life-saving humanitarian aid is critical as ever as the humanitarian crisis has become protracted over the years with ever-increasing needs.
''The cross-border operation has proven itself as a reliable lifeline of humanitarian assistance for millions of people in northwest Syria. This assistance goes beyond physical aid and also includes critical support in education, protection and health services,'' he said.
Sinirlioğlu said the scale, scope and efficiency of the cross-border operation have no match or substitute. ''There is no hidden agenda at issue here. The aim is nothing but to save the lives of those who rely on this assistance," he added.
According to the U.N., around 15.3 million people will require humanitarian protection and assistance in 2023, the highest since the beginning of the conflict in 2011
Irish Ambassador Fergal Mythen urged all channels of access to be consistently available as he spoke on behalf of Norway and Ireland as co-pen holders on the Syrian humanitarian file. Mythen said although crossline convoys of aid into northwest Syria continue to increase in frequency and size, they cannot substitute the scope or sight of massive cross-border operations.
''The highly monitored cross-border mechanism continues to be an indispensable lifeline providing food, shelter, wash, protection, vaccines and critical medical services to millions of Syrians in need,'' he said.
U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the U.N., Robert Wood said the cross-border operation is among the most secure and transparent operations than anywhere in the world. ''There is simply no substitute for cross-border assistance,'' he added.
U.N. aid chief, Martin Griffits, said the socio-economic degradation is the worst since the beginning of the crisis and stressed the importance of maintaining the lifeline for millions in the northwest amid a cholera outbreak and in the middle of winter. The U.N. reported 62,000 suspected cholera cases, including 100 deaths from the disease as of Dec. 18, 2022.
According to the U.N., nearly 600 trucks delivering food and other essential aid crossed the border into northwest Syria every month in 2022.
Russia readies for another fight
Russia laid the groundwork on Wednesday for another fight over whether the U.N. Security Council should renew the approval of humanitarian aid deliveries.
Authorization by the 15-member council is needed because Syrian authorities did not agree to the operation, which has been delivering aid including food, medicine and shelter to an opposition-controlled area of Syria since 2014.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the West of politicizing humanitarian aid operations in Syria. ''The picture surrounding the cross border mechanism has not been transparent,'' he said. He also said that Western sanctions affecting the lives of ordinary Syrians were ''absolutely unacceptable illegal and unilateral.''
Russia, which has backed Syria’s Bashar Assad in a civil war that began in 2011, argues that the U.N. operation violates Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It says more aid should be delivered from inside the country, raising opposition fears that food and other aid would fall under government control.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council in a report this month that aid deliveries from within Syria "remain unable to replace the size or scope of the massive United Nations cross-border operation."
"Without United Nations cross-border access to the northwest of the country, hunger will increase, millions will be at risk of losing shelter assistance, and access to water will decrease," Guterres said.
Nebenzia said Russia was "not convinced" that there was no alternative to the delivery of aid into Syria from Türkiye.
In 2014, the Security Council allowed aid deliveries into opposition-held areas of Syria from Iraq, Jordan and two points in Türkiye. But Russia and China, which have veto powers, have whittled that down to just one Turkish border point.