UN Chief Wants Extension of Syria's Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing Mandate - Spokesman

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2021) �UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres advocates for another year-long extension of Syria's Bab al-Hawa border crossing mandate as he sees no alternative routes to deliver humanitarian aid to the country, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Monday.

The UN� Security Council is expected to vote next month on whether to keep Bab al-Hawa, the only internationally approved crossing uncontrolled by Damascus, open for cross-border shipments from Turkey to Syria's Northwest areas.

"Bab al-Hawa is the last lifeline preventing a humanitarian catastrophe for the millions of people in Syria. Despite the ongoing efforts to deliver a small number of trucks cross-line from Damascus there remains no alternative to delivering aid at this scale and with this scope," Dujarric said during a daily briefing.

"This is why the Secretary General has said a large scale cross-border operation for an additional 12 months remains essential to save lives."

Dujarric said that the crossing allows UN teams in Turkey to dispatch every month around a thousand trucks of aid for 2.5 million Syrians.

"A total of 979 trucks crossed in May alone," he added.

Last year, the UN Security Council voted to reduce the number of border crossings to only one. Russia previously argued that the council should return to distributing aid from within Syria.