UN fails to extend accord for key aid route to rebel-held areas in Syria

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.

The 15 council members had been trying for days to find a compromise to extend the deal, which has allowed food, water and medicine to be delivered to northwestern Syria without the authorisation of the government in Damascus since 2014.

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 concluded their operations on Monday night, the future of the aid corridor was in doubt, as it cannot resume operations until the United Nations reauthorises it.

The aid mechanism originally allowed four entry points into rebel-held Syria. Now, only the Bab al-Hawa crossing remains passable. The accord comes up for renewal every six months due to pressure from Moscow.

The crossing provides more than 80 per cent of the needs of people living in rebel-controlled areas delivering a range of items such as nappies, blankets and chickpeas. The government in Damascus regularly denounces aid deliveries as a breach of its sovereignty.

Negotiations continued all day at the UN on 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 diplomatic sources, the latest resolution – drafted by Switzerland and Brazil – would have allowed for a one-year renewal, an aspect demanded by humanitarian workers.

Russia vetoed a one-year extension in July 2022 and insisted that it would only agree to another six-month deal, according to the same sources.

Switzerland and Brazil are now said to have put a nine-month renewal option on the table.

UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths had called for the opening of more crossings for at least 12 months.

The situation “is intolerable for the people of the north-west, and those brave souls who help them to go through these ups and downs every six months,” he said, pointing out that humanitarian agencies have to bring pre-positioned stock into the country every time access is threatened, in case the crossing is closed.

According to the UN, four million people in Syria depend on humanitarian assistance to survive following years of conflict, economic strife and devastating earthquakes.

After the earthquake in February, which killed tens of thousands of people in the country, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to the opening of two additional crossings, which remain open despite the Security Council's failure to reauthorise the Bab al-Hawa crossing.

The authorisation for the other two corridors is set to expire in mid-August.

“I have every hope that they will continue to be renewed. I see no reason why not,” Griffiths said last week, after having met Assad in Damascus at the end of June.

Following the earthquake, more than 3,700 UN lorries carrying aid have passed through the three checkpoints. The majority have passed through Bab al-Hawa, including 79 on Monday.