Cross-border aid to northwest Syria

Sir, – UN cross-border aid from Turkey to northwest Syria has to continue as a vital lifeline for millions. In northwest Syria, 4.1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and humanitarian needs are at their highest since the war started 11 years ago; 2.8 million of the Syrian population residing in the northwest are internally displaced persons, and 1.7 million of them live in camps or informal settlements. People living in camps often lack adequate shelter, infrastructure, protection, and basic services including water, sanitation, and healthcare. Over half of those in camps across Syria are under the age of 18 years.

The UN Security Council established a cross-border resolution in 2014 as a mechanism to reflect the international community’s commitment to the independence, unity and sovereignty integrity of Syria. The mechanism allows humanitarian aid to reach Syrians from Turkey, in a neutral, independent, direct, safe and sustained manner.

Today (July 7th), the 15-member UN Security Council, of which Ireland is currently a member, will vote to reauthorise the UN cross-border resolution. Five Irish aid agencies providing humanitarian aid in northwest Syria have joined forces to implore the UN Security Council to reauthorise the UN cross-border resolution. Reauthorisation will allow aid to be continued to be delivered to these already impoverished people in a neutral, independent safe and sustained manner, away from the highly politicised agenda.

Failure to renew the resolution will immediately disrupt the UN’s lifesaving aid operation, plunging people in northwest Syria into even more appalling misery, threatening access to food, medical care and shelter. Renewal of the cross-border aid mechanism is a humanitarian and moral imperative. – Yours, etc,