4 million Syrians on brink of starvation as UN aid mechanism draws to close
Millions of Syrians are helplessly waiting in desperation as UN aid entry into Syria draws to an end amid expectations that Russia will veto a resolution authorizing cross-border aid into the war-torn country.
UN humanitarian aid trucks are queuing among olive trees on the road linking Turkey’s Hatay province with northwestern Syria, as they wait to enter the Bab al-Hawa crossing, which is the last crossing allowing UN aid to flow into Idlib, Syria’s last stronghold of extremist organizations.
The Bab al-Hawa crossing may close on July 10 when the UN resolution on cross-border aid into Syria expires, which may exacerbate the suffering of more than 4 million people living in the displacement camps in northwest Syria.
In a joint statement released on June 13, a group of Syrian nongovernmental organizations warned of the danger of Russia's use of its veto at the UN Security Council on the resolution to extend the entry of humanitarian aid into the Syrian northwestern areas, which are out of the Syrian government control, through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey amid a growing social crisis in the area with the decreasing purchasing power of civilians there.
On June 20, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during a UN briefing on the humanitarian situation in Syria that extending the current mandate of the aid mechanism through the Bab al-Hawa crossing is tantamount to a “life or death decision.”
