UN chief says Syria's Assad has agreed to expand UN aid access from Turkey
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (right) meets with UN aid chief Martin Griffiths in Damascus, Syria, on Feb 13.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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UNITED NATIONS - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to allow United Nations aid deliveries to opposition-held north-west Syria through two border crossings from Turkey for three months, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday.
Mr Assad agreed to open the crossings of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee, Mr Guterres said in a statement after UN aid chief Martin Griffiths met the Syrian leader in Damascus on Monday.
Mr Griffiths briefed the UN Security Council of Mr Assad’s decision during a closed-door meeting, diplomats earlier told Reuters.
The move comes a week after an earthquake struck Turkey and Syria,
Mr Assad’s agreement means the UN could now use a total of three border crossings from Turkey to reach the north-west of war-torn Syria.
The UN already has a Security Council mandate to use the Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
It has been using that route since 2014 to deliver aid to millions of people in need in the north-west.
The Security Council agreed to the mandate after the Syrian government opposed the measure.
“As the toll of the Feb 6 earthquake continues to mount, delivering food, health, nutrition, protection, shelter, winter supplies and other life-saving supplies to all the millions of people affected is of the utmost urgency,” said Mr Guterres.
“Opening these crossing points – along with facilitating humanitarian access, accelerating visa approvals and easing travel between hubs – will allow more aid to go in faster,” he added.
However, the White Helmets, the Syrian opposition-run main rescue group, lambasted the UN decision that has given Mr Assad a say in sanctioning aid deliveries. It said it gave the Syrian President “free political gain”.
“This is shocking, and we are at a loss at how the UN is behaving,” the group’s head, Mr Raed al Saleh, told Reuters, echoing sentiment among many Syrians in the opposition-held enclave devastated by the quake.
Security Council action
Aid has been reaching government-held areas hit by the earthquake, but the rebel-held north-west has received little help.
A source from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist group which controls much of the region, said the group would not let in shipments across the front lines from government-held areas.
The Syrian government has long opposed aid deliveries across its border into opposition-controlled areas, describing it as a violation of its sovereignty.
Mr Griffiths had signalled that he would seek Security Council authorisation for expanded access from Turkey if the Syrian government did not agree to it.
French UN Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said if Mr Assad’s agreement was not implemented in a transparent and sustainable manner with no obstacles, then the Security Council should consider adopting a resolution to authorise the access.
Any resolution would need nine votes in favour and no vetoes by Russia, China, the US, Britain or France to pass.
Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said a resolution was now not needed “because it’s a sovereign decision of Syria”.
He said the current Security Council-mandated UN aid access through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing was a violation of Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Mr Polyanskiy said any push for a resolution would politicise the issue and not help Syrians.
Syria’s UN Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh confirmed Syria would support the delivery of humanitarian aid through all possible points from inside Syria or across the border for three months.
He told reporters a council resolution was not needed because it was an agreement between Syria and the UN. REUTERS
