Humanitarian Organization: As 1,3 Million Syrians Threatened by Closed Borders for Aid

Idlib, Syria, MINA – Humanitarian organizations say a UN Security Council resolution that leaves only one of two open border crossings for sending aid from Turkey to rebel-controlled northwest Syria will take lives and intensify the suffering of 1.3 million people who live there.

Western countries have urged that access to aid continue through two crossings on the border of Turkey and Russia, President Bashar al-Assad’s main ally in its war against militants.

“In northwest Syria, cross-border vital lines have been closed so aid will be more difficult to reach 1.3 million refugees who depend on food and medicine sent by the United Nations,” humanitarian organizations operating in Syria said a joint statement as quoted from MEMO on Sunday.

“Now, many are threatened. Life will disappear and suffering will increase, the organization said.

“With the first case of COVID-19 confirmed in Idlib, an area with very weak health infrastructure, this was a devastating blow,” the statement added.

In a separate statement, the Doctor for Human Rights said the resolution had closed “a direct route to hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians who were in dire need of food and medicine”.

“This problem should not be politicized,” said Russian UN envoy Dmitry Polyanskiy. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)