Secretary of the Syrian National Coalition’s political committee, Riad Al-Hassan, said that the UN Security Council has a responsibility to enforce resolution 2165 of July 14, 2014 as he warned of the continued international failure to address the dire humanitarian situation facing civilians in different areas of Syria, especially in the northwest of the country.
Resolution 2165 stated that “UN humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners are authorized to use routes across conflict lines and the border crossings in addition to those already in use, in order to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches people in need throughout Syria through the most direct routes, with notification to the Syrian authorities.”
The resolution also called for the establishment of a monitoring mechanism under the authority of the UN Secretary-General in order “to confirm the humanitarian nature of the relief consignments.”
Al-Hassan recalled Resolution 2449 of December 13, 2018 which decided to renew these procedures for an additional twelve months until January 10, 2020.
Al-Hassan stressed that there is nothing to prevent the United Nations from enforcing this resolution through the several border crossings in northern Syria in partnership with the implementing partners. Should the UN fails to deliver humanitarian aid, it will be seen as a partner of the Russian, Iranian, Assad regime forces and their allied sectarian militias in the horrific crimes they are committing against the Syrian people.
Moreover, Al-Hassan went on to say that the military operations being carried out by the Assad regime and its allies in the “de-escalation zone” in northwestern Syria since last April have forced more than 1.2 million people out of their homes. He pointed out that this places a great responsibility on the international organizations to provide relief to those civilians.
Multiple human rights groups talked about the immense suffering of civilians in northwestern Syria as they stressed the urgent need to deliver humanitarian assistance to those in need and provide medical supplies for the sick and wounded. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
