Lives will be lost and more than 1.3 million will suffer following a UN resolution that leaves only one border crossing open for aid deliveries from Turkey into northwest Syria, humanitarian agencies said on Sunday.
“In northwest Syria, where a vital cross-border lifeline has been closed … it will be harder to reach an estimated 1.3 million people dependent on food and medicine delivered by the UN cross-border,” aid agencies operating in Syria said in a joint statement.
“Many will now not receive the help they need. Lives will be lost. Suffering will intensify.”
“With the first case of Covid-19 confirmed in Idlib, an area with a severely weakened health infrastructure, this is a devastating blow,” the statement added.
In response to the Russian-Chinese veto, the Syrian Opposition Coalition called for the creation of an international mechanism outside the UN Security Council framework that would allow humanitarian aid deliveries reach those in need.
“This use of the veto underscores the United Nations’ need for radical reform, including preventing states like Russia from shackling UN Security Council and undermining its ability to pass substantive resolutions for the benefit of millions of people,” the SOC added. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
