(United Nations) The UN Security Council reactivated cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria on Saturday, but with a further sharp reduction imposed by Russia on helpless Westerners amid intense tension.
Philippe RATER
France Media Agency
At the end of seven ballots in one week, it adopted a German-Belgian resolution allowing to continue to use at the Turkish border for one year the crossing point of Bab al-Hawa which serves the insurgent region of Idlib, but removing that of Bab al-Salam which led to 1.3 million Syrians north of Aleppo.
Twelve countries voted in favor, three abstained: Russia, China and the Dominican Republic who explained their disappointment "that once again the Security Council has been unable to respond collectively and to constructively to one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies today. "
"It is good news for millions of Syrians [...] that the Security Council has finally been able to agree on our compromise proposal", however, the chief welcomed in a press release of German diplomacy, Heiko Maas.
Master of the game, Moscow did not give up on anything, imposing its will on Westerners by inflicting a bitter setback on them.
In a post-election videoconference, Russia spoke of "hypocrisy" and "clumsiness" between Germany and Belgium in the conduct of negotiations, drawing acrimonious aftershocks. Support from Moscow, China has asked Germany not to give it lessons ...
In force since 2014, the UN cross-border authorization allows aid to be channeled to the Syrian population without the approval of Damascus. Failure to agree to the Council, after two Russian-Chinese double vetoes in three days (16 e for Moscow and 10 e for Beijing from 2011), it expired on Friday.
In January, the mechanism had already been severely reduced by Russia, which considers that it violates the sovereignty of its Syrian ally. He lost one port of entry in Jordan and one in Iraq.
Lashing failure
"Russia controls this process," notes Richard Gowan, of the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank. The week's vetoes "were secondary because, ultimately, Russia would always impose a solution in the terms" agreed today, he told AFP.
For the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), Louis Charbonneau also noted that "the members of the Security Council had given Moscow what it wanted: a further drastic reduction in cross-border aid to Desperate Syrians who depend on it to survive. " Oxfam has expressed concern over the limits on "providing water, food, shelter and health care" for millions of Syrians.
From four entry points last year, "we are now at one as the number of lives at stake in north-west Syria reaches millions", agreed Estonia , member of the Council, while Belgium deplored "another sad day for this Council and especially for the Syrian people".
In recent weeks, Moscow had explained to its partners that the Bab al-Salam entry point was used much less than that of Bab al-Hawa. Russia also believed that aid through Damascus control could be increased for the Aleppo region.
Arguments rejected by Westerners who consider that there is no credible alternative to the cross-border system, and who denounce the obstacles made by the Syrian bureaucracy and politics to a flow of aid in the areas not controlled by Damascus.
For the United Kingdom, "the Council had no choice but to approve a resolution which does not meet the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people, which reduces humanitarian access and puts lives at stake "
While it made Wednesday of the maintenance of two accesses to Syria a "red line", the United States also undergoes a scathing failure. After the vote, they noted that "the resolution was not what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and dozens of NGOs operating in Syria had demanded by pleading with the Council."
The head of the UN is also inflicted a serious setback. In a report in June, he considered it crucial to extend the mechanism with at least two access points. In a statement on Saturday evening, he merely "took note" of the resolution, describing the cross-border system in Syria as a "lifeline".
