The Syrian Response Coordination Group (RCG), an Idlib-based humanitarian nongovernmental organization assisting the displaced in northwestern Syria, has recently warned of the danger of the closure of the Turkish border crossings with Syria. 

In a statement posted on Facebook March 31, the RCG said the closure of the crossings could block vital humanitarian aid heading to northern Syria, pointing to the severe shortage of aid convoys from the areas controlled by the Syrian government compared to those coming from Turkish territories.

“A new UN aid convoy entered northwestern Syria from the Syrian regime-controlled areas in Aleppo through the al-Tarnaba crossing, east of Idlib, consisting of 14 trucks of humanitarian aid provided by the World Food Program,” the statement read. 

The statement added, “Since the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2585 of 2021 and until March [2022], only 43 relief trucks containing food aid crossed the contact lines with the Syrian regime, compared to more than 10,000 trucks passing through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, loaded with various humanitarian aid to cover shelter, health, education and food needs.”