BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2020) The UN Security Council's authorization of only one border crossing for humanitarian deliveries to Syria, instead of the previous two, will hinder supplies of much-needed aid to the country's northwest, the European Union said on Sunday.
On Saturday, the UNSC adopted a German-Belgian resolution to extend humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria via one checkpoint on the border with Turkey for one year. It came after Russia and China vetoed the previous draft that sought to maintain the use of two crossings due to principled differences over the aid delivery mechanism. This time, the two UNSC permanent members, as well as the Dominican Republic abstained.
"It is a matter of deep concern that the resolution adopted after repeated vetoes by Russia and China authorises only one crossing point out of the two previously available to the UN," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said in a statement, thanking Germany, Belgium and all "likeminded countries" at the UNSC for their "tireless efforts."
According to the EU officials, "the unconstructive approach of certain members of the Security Council is all the more regrettable at a time when needs have never been greater and in the context of the coronavirus pandemic."
The bloc argued that the decision will "hamper the delivery of life-saving emergency supplies to hundreds of thousands of people in need in North-West Syria."
Russia had been seeking to limit� the number of checkpoints to one, Bab al-Hawa, which is used for about 90 percent of UN deliveries to northwestern Syria. Moscow believes that the cross-border aid delivery mechanism was a temporary and urgent measure initiated in 2014 and that the current situation in Syria, where government forces have regained control over most of the territories, no longer requires the work of so many cross-border checkpoints, which threaten Syrian sovereignty.
Syria and Russia have stated that humanitarian aid should now be managed via Damascus.
Another contentious point is that the German-Belgian resolution makes no mention of denouncing unilateral sanctions on Syria. The EU says that the sanctions are of a targeted nature and do not harm Syrian people.
