UN to ask Syria to approve humanitarian aid airdrops

The United Nations will ask the Syrian government on Sunday to approve airdrops and airlifts of humanitarian aid to besieged areas, UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien told the Security Council, according to diplomats in the closed door meeting on Friday.

Nearly 600,000 people are besieged in 19 different areas in Syria, according to the UN, with two thirds trapped by government forces and the rest besieged by armed opposition groups and Islamic State militants.

Mr O’Brien told the council the UN would on Sunday ask permission from Syria to airdrop or airlift aid into besieged areas where only partial or no land access has been granted by President Bashar al-Assad’s government, said the diplomats.

“I told the council that the operating space for humanitarian actors is shrinking as violence and attacks across Syria increase,” Mr O’Brien said in an emailed statement.

“We need the consent of the Syrian government and all necessary security guarantees, in order to conduct airdrops,” he added. “We need all parties to allow freedom of movement for civilians and humanitarian access.”

He said the UN only reached two of the besieged areas by land last month, representing some 20,000 people, or 3.4 per cent of Syria’s total besieged population.

There was no immediate response from Syrian UN ambassador Bashar Ja’afari when asked to comment on the announcement. It was not clear why Mr Assad’s government would consider agreeing to airlifts for areas where it has blocked overland aid convoys.

Syria gave the UN and the Red Cross approval on Thursday to send humanitarian aid convoys into at least 11 of the 19 besieged areas during June after the United States and Britain called for airdrops.

Several western diplomats said the Syrian announcement may be a ploy to deflect discussions on airdrops, noting that Assad’s government has a track record of reneging on promises to permit full access to needy people.

Syria’s opposition has warned the government may open the door just enough to defuse international pressure before restricting access again.

Last month members of the International Syria Support Group, which includes Russia and the United States, agreed that the UN World Food Program should airdrop aid to Syria's besieged communities from June 1st if land access was denied.

At least 250,000 people have died in Syria’s five-year civil war in Syria, while more than 6.6 million have been internally displaced and another 4.8 million people have fled the country.

Vitaly Churkin, the UN ambassador of Mr Assad’s close military ally Russia, told the council that airdrops and airlifts of aid could be carried out if safely and correctly organised, the diplomats who attended the meeting said.

Russia, like Mr Assad's other ally Iran, is widely seen as having significant influence over the Damascus government.

– (Reuters)