By
Robert Ford
July 10,
2020
I was going
to write about national day celebrations in America last week in the shadow of
our health, social, political, and economic crises. However, there is an urgent
Syria humanitarian file that will reach decision at the United Nations this
week that must be my priority. Today, on July 10, the United Nations Security
Council resolution that permits delivery of humanitarian assistance from Turkey
into Idlib will expire. The Security Council must vote in favour of a new
resolution in order for the United Nations to continue to coordinate the
delivery of the aid. Now about three million Syrian civilians in Idlib receive
food and medical supplies through two border crossings from Turkey under the
supervision of the United Nations. Secretary-General Guterres and many
countries support an extension of the programme and also the reopening of a
border crossing in Hassakeh for the delivery of medical supplies there to
contain the coronavirus.
The
humanitarian situation in Syria is deteriorating. According to the UN
humanitarian aid office, food prices have tripled this year. The number of Syrians
in all the country who need food assistance has grown from 7.9 million to 9.3
million this year. The coordinator for the UN humanitarian assistance
programme, Imran Riza, said at the end of June that malnutrition is becoming
worse and worse, including among children. In addition to the food is a crisis,
there were 372 coronavirus cases recorded officially in all of Syria on July 6.
The World Health Organization said in reality the true number is certainly much
higher and even the official numbers are now growing fast. There are shortages
of medical supplies and testing equipment.
In Brussels
on June 30 twenty-six countries pledged another $7.7 billion for humanitarian
aid to Syria. Moscow didn't participate in the conference and it didn't give
new humanitarian assistance but it wants to direct who receives the aid.
Russian diplomats in New York are threatening to halt the UN programme to
deliver vital supplies into Idlib. Moscow prefers that all the humanitarian
assistance go through the UN centre in Damascus where the Syrian government
could control which towns receive aid and which towns receive nothing.
The Russian
efforts to strengthen Syrian government control of all humanitarian aid is part
of Russia's diplomatic campaign to normalise the Syrian government's political
and economic relations with the Middle East and Europe. Moscow wants Damascus
to be the only Syrian partner for all assistance and reconstruction issues.
Moscow also wants to bring down the Western sanctions on Syria. It claims Western
sanctions impede humanitarian assistance to Syria. It is true that despite
claims by Washington and Brussels, the sanctions in reality do deter some banks
from undertaking any project financing in Syria, including purchase of
humanitarian supplies. The bureaucratic routine to obtain exceptions from the
sanctions is long and uncertain.
But as
journalists, officials from the United Nations, and non-government
organisations have explained in detail the biggest humanitarian aid problem is
Syrian government manipulation and corruption. If Russia stops the UN delivery
programme from Turkey into Idlib, it won't be sanctions that stop new aid to
Idlib; it will be Syrian government actions. Already there are reductions in
delivery of medical supplies into Hassakeh because the Russians succeeded last
December in halting the UN programme at the Yaroubiyeh border crossing from
Iraq.
In New York
this week Washington should have a simple message: if Moscow uses its veto to
stop an extension of the UN coordination of aid into Idlib, all American aid to
the UN programme in Damascus will stop. I hope Washington is urging Europe to
give the same message to Moscow. Russia would then be responsible for feeding
the roughly six million who live under Assad's control who need assistance. US
and European aid could focus on Idlib and the five million Syrian refugees
outside Syria. If Russia will not concede, the Americans and Europeans will
have to replace the coordination and logistical role that the United Nations
plays in Idlib. This will be difficult but it is possible with time and Turkish
help. The Americans and Europeans must start preparing now because the Russian
pressure will not end. They also need empowered offices that can issue
exceptions to the sanctions in order for humanitarian organisations to buy
supplies quickly. And they need to work with humanitarian organisations to
establish a reliable project monitoring mechanism under protection of the
Turkish military in Idlib. The Syria crisis will not end in 2020, and we need
to consider how to preserve the humanitarian aid programme from Russian attack.
Robert
Ford is a former US ambassador to Syria and Algeria and a senior fellow at the
Middle East Institute for Near East Policy in Washington. -Asharq Al Awsat
Original
Headline: Syrians under siege in Idlib are crying for help
Source: The Khaleej Times
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