Residents of Syria's beleaguered northwest warned on Saturday of a humanitarian '
catastrophe
' following a Russian veto at the UN Security Council that threatens to end cross-border aid needed for their survival.
Russia on Friday vetoed a draft resolution extending the authorization for cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria by one year without Damascus' approval, with Moscow accepting only a six-month extension.
This veto embodies "
the policy of siege and starvation to which Russia resorts through Syria
", denounced to AFP Mazen Allouche, responsible for the border crossing of Bab al-Hawa on the Syrian-Turkish border.
Failure to renew the authorization would be "
a prelude to an uncontrollable famine and would directly threaten the food security of more than four million people living
" in northwestern Syria, he added.
The cross-border permit expires on Sunday and residents of Idlib province, which is home to the majority of displaced people living in poverty, are growing increasingly worried.
“
They know very well that most of the inhabitants of the North depend on this aid
,” said Abdel Salam Youssef indignantly.
The Russian veto is "
a disaster for me
", added this displaced person from southern Idlib.
The UN cross-border system has been in effect since 2014 and helps more than 2.4 million people in the Idleb region under the control of jihadist groups and rebels.
More than 4,600 aid trucks carrying mainly food have passed through the Bab al-Hawa crossing this year, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
This passage, the only one the UN is authorized to use, avoids areas controlled by the Syrian regime.
Saturday it was closed because of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday which marks the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj), said an AFP correspondent on the spot.
"
I hope the Security Council will meet again soon and agree on the way forward
," Mark Cutts, UN deputy regional coordinator for Syria, told AFP on Saturday.
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About 13.4 million Syrians needed aid last year, compared to 11.1 million in 2020, according to Ocha.
Since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011, almost half a million people have been killed and around half of the pre-war population has been displaced.