Mofeed al-Yasser proudly held up a sign. In addition, there was a call for the implementation of United Nations (UN) Resolution 2254 — commonly seen as a roadmap for Syria’s political transition toward peace.
“This is our only option,” Al Yasser, a Syrian refugee from Kaflamber, told DW. had taken part in anti-government demonstrations in the northwestern Syrian region of Idlib, which is part of the
“The whole world has abandoned us,” Al Yasser continued. “On top of that, Russia is now trying to starve us by closing crossroads for humanitarian aid.”
In saying this, he was referring to an entirely different United Nations resolution, which is just as difficult to address.
There are more than 4 million people in northwestern Syria, many like Yasser displaced by the long civil war. About 1.7 million people live in displaced persons camps in the area.
Many rely on international aid facilitated by the United Nations. Most of it is classified as “cross-border aid”. That is, crossing the border with Turkey to reach this part of Syria. “Cross-line aid” is much less. This means moving from areas controlled by the Syrian government to areas controlled by the opposition, crossing the lines of conflict.
Violations of international humanitarian law
In mid-2014, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was involved in a decision on cross-border aid to Syria.
in Resolution 2165 In July 2014, the UNSC said it was “deeply disturbed” by the Syrian government’s refusal to consent to relief efforts, defining it as a “violation of international humanitarian law.” Security Council members said that UN humanitarian agencies and their partners could use four different border crossings, two via Turkey and one each via Jordan and Iraq, to bring goods into Syria without seeking permission from the Assad regime. has decided to allow the use of
Since 2014, the situation has clearly changed radically. This is due to increased Russian support for the Syrian dictator since around 2015 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has increased diplomatic tensions within the UNSC itself.
Humanitarian aid goes through Damascus because Russia uses its seats on the 15-member council to help its allies, and cross-border aid was thought to be only a temporary arrangement. argue that it should.
Also, due to Russia’s insistence, there is currently only one border crossing available for assistance along the Turkish border. Russia is also demanding that the resolution be updated semi-annually instead of annually. The latter was agreed in UNSC Resolution 2642.July 2022.
Humanitarian catastrophe warning
The current resolution on cross-border aid expired on January 10, and like clockwork this week, there was another chorus of warnings from humanitarian organizations. A roster of human rights experts appointed by the United Nations warned of catastrophic consequences if the resolution was not renewed.
“The already desperate humanitarian situation in northwestern Syria will worsen,” they said in a statement Wednesday..
Also this week, news agency Reuters reported that Russia has already privately agreed not to reject next week’s update. Analysts suggest Russia’s increasingly friendly relations with Turkey may be the reason. Turkey supports cross-border aid and wants to avoid large numbers of Syrian refugees at its border if the situation in Idlib worsens.
Richard Gowan, who oversees the advocacy efforts of the international think tank Crisis Group at the United Nations in New York, said: “The fact that Russia appears to have accepted approval for the latest update suggests that the Security Council’s options are still viable for now. It shows that,” he said. “But we should not be complacent about this.”
Gowan speculates that Russia will seek further concessions when the renewal resumes in July of this year, but is unlikely to get rid of it entirely. We get more power by keeping the mandate alive,” he said.
But that’s also why Crisis Group and others think a “Plan B” is necessary.
Growing need for alternatives
August report, the advocacy group Refugees International, said that the United Nations’ independent alternative funding pool, working more directly with local aid organizations inside Syria, a long-term approach to projects that promote infrastructure and education, and that the United Nations He argued for options such as limiting work to specific areas. Turkish side of the border.
Cross-border aid delivered through Damascus could not replace UN cross-border aid, they said. According to the United Nations, there were only nine cross-border relief convoys in 2022 as a whole. Most of them consisted of about 10 delivery trucks. By contrast, an estimated 600 trucks delivered cross-border aid each month last year.
The Crisis Group estimates that humanitarian deliveries to Idlib would drop by more than half if the UNSC mandate were to collapse completely.
“This threat gives Russia even more leverage. [UNSC] “With a better Plan B, Russia would be in a weaker position,” Gowan said.
There is another possibility. It revolves around an initiative instigated by the American Syrian Relief Coalition (ARCS).the U.S.-based Umbrella for Syrian Aid Organizations, and British human rights lawyer Guernica 37, also known as G37.
The initiative argues that the position that cross-border aid requires UNSC authorization is, in fact, open to interpretation. There is no international humanitarian law that makes it illegal for UN agencies to cross Syrian borders into areas not under the control of the Syrian government, they say.
Moreover, since 2014, the facts on the ground have clearly changed. UNSC involvement may have been helpful in the conflict’s turbulent early stages, but it is now unnecessary. For one thing, rebel-held areas of the country, once thought to be temporary, will clearly still need support and may be treated like any other humanitarian issue.
Cross-border aid is not illegal in Syria
This was similar to claims made by legal experts in 2014 before the UNSC was embroiled in a dispute over the delivery of aid.
“Under international humanitarian law, a party cannot lawfully withhold consent to weaken an enemy’s resistance, cause civilian starvation, or deny medical assistance.” , a former chief prosecutor of numerous United Nations International Criminal Courts — wrote in an open letter Posted in Guardian. “If consent is withheld for these arbitrary reasons, relief efforts are lawful without consent.”
The United Nations has admitted that the Assad regime has arbitrarily withheld aid to opposition-controlled areas.
G37 legal initiativewill soon publish a similar letter with signatories including former judges of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
Ibrahim Orabi, a G37 attorney and lead strategist for the initiative, said: “It’s not easy to change the status quo that many have taken for granted over the past eight years.
He and the initiative’s legal expert, Jack Sproson, have spent more than six months on the stage to persuade supporting governments to support the idea that cross-border aid to Syria is legal without UNSC authorization. They have met with delegations in Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Washington, New York, London, Bern and Ankara.
“The question now is how the government can tackle this issue,” he said. “But I think there is a realistic outlook. [the resolution regularly] It was simply too high,” he concluded.
