Russia welcomes the Syrian government's decision to allow UN humanitarian agencies to continue using the Bab al-Salam and Al Ra'ee border crossings until August 13, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement published on Monday.
The Russian MFA stressed that the measure was previously sanctioned by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "in the interest of facilitating and boosting urgent aid to areas affected by the February 6 devastating earthquake."
"Moscow welcomes this sovereign decision by the Syrian authorities (the SAR government's decision to allow UN humanitarian agencies to continue using two border crossings on the border with Turkey - Bab al-Salam and Al Ra'ee - for another three months - TASS), which is designed to facilitate international humanitarian assistance to all Syrians in need without politicization and in accordance with the norms and principles of international humanitarian law (IHL), that is, in coordination and agreement with the national government," noted the ministry.
The diplomatic office pointed to other important measures, taken by Damascus in connection with the earthquake, namely a "blanket approval" for humanitarian missions in the country, including the immediate approval of aid supply to Syria and all areas by domestic routes, as well as a simplified visa issuance procedure for foreign humanitarian workers.
The foreign ministry also said that the process of providing humanitarian aid to the Syrian population, needed greatly after the natural disaster, "continues to be accompanied by preconditions and blatant discrimination towards Damascus-controlled territories."
"For example, the UN urgent appeal for the non-controlled areas of the northwestern part of Syria was financed immediately and in full, while the overall UN Humanitarian Response Plan for the whole country has received less than 10% of the requested funds since the beginning of the year. In addition, the actual expansion of cross-border supplies has blocked internal convoys across the lines of contact. Only one such cross-border convoy has passed into Idlib since the beginning of the year (Jan. 8-9). For example, after the earthquake, two convoys were stopped at the entrance to the de-escalation zone, but the militants there, recognized as terrorists by the UN Security Council, did not let and are not letting these cargoes or any other missions through. All this has happened and is happening despite the dire need of Syrian civilians for assistance, and without a proper response from the international community and the UN leadership," the ministry stated.
"This situation was another vivid example of 'double standards' of Western countries, who use pseudo-humanitarian slogans to promote the 'cross-border aid mechanism' bypassing Damascus (through the Bab al-Hawa checkpoint). Declaring their alleged donor generosity, the US and its allies are steadily stealing Syria's natural resources and are suffocating the country with illegal unilateral sanctions. In this situation the decision of the Syrian government to prolong the operation of the two additional border checkpoints, which are functioning without any special resolution of the UN SC, demonstrates that the assistance to Syrians can and should be provided in accordance with the norms of IHL and on the basis of respect for sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria," concluded the Russian MFA.
Situation in Syria
Two powerful 7.7-magnitude and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes rocked Turkey’s south-eastern Kahramanmaras province on February 6. The tremors, followed by thousands of aftershocks, were felt in eleven provinces as well as in neighboring countries, including Syria. According to the Syrian authorities, the death toll from the quakes exceeded 1,400 and more than 400,000 people were affected by the calamity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as many as 4,537 people died in the quake in Syrian regions near the border with Turkey, which are not controlled by the government.
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Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS