[ad_1]
A UN-brokered agreement that allows for the delivery of aid overland from Turkey into rebel-held areas of Syria expired on Monday after the Security Council failed to hold a vote to reauthorise it.
Issued on:
The 15 members of the council had been trying for days to find a compromise to extend the deal, which since 2014 has allowed for food, water and medicine to be trucked to northwestern Syria without the authorization of the government in Damascus.
But the vote, first scheduled for Friday, was postponed to Monday – and then again to Tuesday morning, a source in the British mission to the UN, which holds the presidency of the Security Council, told AFP.This means that as humanitarian convoys wrapped up their operations Monday night, the future of the aid corridor was in doubt – it cannot resume operations until the United Nations reauthorises it.
The aid mechanism originally allowed for four entry points into rebel-held Syria, though now only the Bab al-Hawa crossing remains passable. The accord comes up for renewal every six months due to pressure from Damascus ally Moscow.
The crossing provides for more than 80 percent of the needs of people living in rebel-controlled areas – everything from diapers and blankets to chickpeas. The government in Damascus regularly denounces the aid deliveries as a violation of its sovereignty.
Negotiations continued all day at the UN Monday as officials scrambled to reach a last-minute deal but ultimately failed.
“We want to do all we can for the 4.1 million people in Syria who desperately need aid,” British Ambassador and Security Council President Barbara Woodward said earlier in the day.
“We are still working very, very hard to find common ground with one and one goal only in mind: it’s the humanitarian imperative, the needs on the ground,” Swiss ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl said.
According to several…
[ad_2]
Source : france24
