Haytham Rahmeh, Secretary-General of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), has criticized the United Nations’ relief aid delivery process to Syria, stating that it shows bias towards the Assad regime. Rahmeh specifically pointed out that the decision-making process does not consider the victims of the recent earthquake that struck the region, causing significant damage to liberated areas.
Rahmeh strongly rejected the involvement of the Assad regime in any decision related to relief aid, citing the regime’s loss of legitimacy and lack of representation of the Syrian people, particularly in liberated areas.
He further questioned the world’s desire to rehabilitate a war criminal like Bashar al-Assad, who has been proven to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of chemical weapons and barrel bombs.
Rahmeh emphasized that the border crossings controlled by the forces of the revolution and the opposition are authorized to make decisions regarding aid delivery, not the Assad regime. He called for urgent international intervention to investigate the UN’s steps in service of the Assad regime and to correct its course.
Rahmeh stressed that even before the earthquake, the Syrian people were living in dire conditions below the poverty line, and the disaster has only increased the number of people in need of permanent and emergency assistance.
Rahmeh also highlighted that while the UN announced the opening of border crossings for three months, crossings controlled by the UN will be open permanently.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
