The UN Secretariat and Syrian authorities have come to an agreement to reopen the Bab al-Hawa checkpoint situated on the border with Turkey. This checkpoint serves as a vital route for the transportation of humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria. The office of the UN Secretary-General released a statement confirming this development.
"The UN Secretary-General welcomes the agreement between the UN and Syrian authorities, allowing the continued utilization of the Bab al-Hawa crossing for the next six months. This vital arrangement will enable the delivery of humanitarian aid to millions of individuals in northwest Syria. The confirmed authorization from Syria establishes a lawful framework, empowering the UN and its partners to conduct cross-border operations for the purpose of delivering essential humanitarian assistance via the Bab al-Hawa checkpoint," the statement reads.
Guterres' office highlighted that the accord emerged from interactions between UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths and representatives of the Syrian authorities. Yet, the UN refrained from detailing the specific terms underpinning the agreement.
The Bab al-Hawa crossing, which facilitated 85% of the humanitarian aid to northwest Syria's inhabitants, had operated under the umbrella of the cross-border aid mechanism in Syria as per the UN Security Council's mandate, which concluded on July 11. Regrettably, the Security Council was unable to pass a resolution extending the mechanism's operations. On July 13, Syria's permanent representative to the UN, Bassam al-Sabbagh, announced that Damascus would permit the use of the Bab al-Hawa crossing for six months to deliver humanitarian assistance. However, he stressed that the UN and its affiliated bodies involved in this endeavor should synchronize their efforts with the central authorities of the nation.
At that juncture, the UN expressed its intention to scrutinize Syria's proposed mechanism. Subsequently, no humanitarian provisions were conveyed through the Bab al-Hawa crossing. Western nations criticized Damascus' proposal, fearing that the oversight over humanitarian aid distribution could potentially be exploited by the Syrian authorities for political motives.
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Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg/Creative Commons 4.0
Based on materials from TASS