MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2021) The last remaining staffers of humanitarian organizations, including the UN World food Programme, have left North Korea because of the coronavirus quarantine, as not a single batch of humanitarian assistance has arrived in the country since 2020, Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organizations Director Pyotr Ilyichev said in an interview with Sputnik, calling for lifting the "draconian" sanctions on Pyongyang.
"The North Korean authorities closed borders because of the COVID-19 pandemic. International organizations lost the ability to rotate staffers, and foreign supplies of humanitarian assistance were blocked, as North Korea has not received a single container since August 2020. As supplies ended, warehouses became empty and fuel supplies were also interrupted, the expected effectiveness of humanitarian agencies virtually eroded to nothing. As a result, in March the last remaining seconded staffers of humanitarian agencies, including the WHO World Food Programme, left the country, leaving hired personnel to head the office," Ilyichev said.
Russia delivered 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Pyongyang in 2020, the Russian diplomat recalled.
According to the Russian diplomat, there are currently no prospects of abolition of the quarantine restrictions in North Korea. Ilyichev also noted that "draconian unilateral restrictions" affect the economic and humanitarian situation in the country.
"The measures do not achieve the set target, but hit the national economy and the population. Special humanitarian exceptions dot not work effectively. The situation, which is already close to complete isolation, is aggravated by the destructive impact of natural disasters ... Russia constantly draws the attention of its international partners to this problem, calling on them to review this inhumane policy," Ilyichev added.
