Russia should not block the United Nations Security Council from reauthorizing and expanding cross-border humanitarian aid operations across northern Syria, Human Rights Watch said today. Millions of people in northeast and northwest Syria need cross-border distribution of food, medicine, Covid-19 vaccines, and other lifesaving assistance.
On July 10, 2021, Security Council authorization for Bab al-Hawa on the Turkish-Syrian border, the last crossing where UN cross-border aid delivery is permitted, will expire. Council members are discussing proposals for reviving all previously authorized cross-border aid points into northern Syria. But Russia has threatened to use its veto power to shut down the entire UN cross-border aid program, making groundless claims that cross-border aid is no longer needed.
