Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
April 28, 2022
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) stresses that Russia’s attempts to disrupt the delivery of cross-border humanitarian aid into Syria by threatening the use of its veto power constitute a crime against 4.2 million Syrians living in the liberated areas and near the Syrian-Turkish border.
Local and international humanitarian organizations have previously confirmed that the failure of the UN Security Council to extend the flow of cross-border humanitarian aid will further worsen the suffering of civilians in need. The disruption of life-saving aid amounts to direct targeting of millions of people.
It is imperative that the international community put an end to Russia’s provocative behavior in the UN Security Council, especially after it committed hundreds of massacres and war crimes in both Syria and Ukraine. Russia is clearly seeking to achieve political gains for itself and for the Assad regime by using purely humanitarian issues as a bargaining chip.
The SOC renews its calls on the UN Security Council to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those in need in Syria away from the Assad regime, which is seizing relief aid in favor of its allied criminal militias. The regime officials are also stealing humanitarian aid to sell it on the market.
The SOC reminds that the impunity for the Assad regime will only worsen the humanitarian situation. Therefore, improving the living and humanitarian conditions depends on the commitment of the UN Security Council to enforce its resolutions that guarantee reaching political transition in Syria and ridding the Syrian people of the Assad regime.
