The UN Security Council reactivated cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria on Saturday, but with a further reduction imposed by Russia on helpless Westerners. At the end of a week of divisions and seven ballots, a resolution by Germany and Belgium allowing one year to use a crossing point at the Turkish border, at Bab al-Hawa, against two up to present, was adopted by 12 out of 15 votes.
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Three countries abstained, Russia, China and the Dominican Republic, according to diplomats. In force since 2014, the UN cross-border authorization allows aid to be sent to the Syrian population without the approval of Damascus. Failing agreement with the Security Council, it expired on Friday. In January, the mechanism had already been severely reduced by Russia, which considers that it violates the sovereignty of its Syrian ally.
The adopted text confirms its request to remove the Bab al-Salam crossing point, also on the Turkish border, which leads to the region of Aleppo (north). Master of the game from the start, Moscow once again imposed its will on Westerners without any real compromise, inflicting a painful setback on the two sponsors of the resolution, two non-permanent members of the Council responsible for the humanitarian aspect of the Syrian dossier at the UN.
