UN warns that millions will suffer unless Syria cross-border aid mechanism is renewed

By Betul Yuruk

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - The United Nations warned Wednesday that millions in Syria will suffer if the Security Council fails to extend a resolution that allows humanitarian aid to be delivered to the rebel-held northwestern part of the country.

The long-running aid operation that allows the use of the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the border with Türkiye has been in place since 2014 and the most recent six-month authorization expires Jan. 10

''What happens is that millions of people will suffer. That's what will happen,'' UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said when asked by Anadolu Agency. ''We have been very clear on the need to extend the mechanism. The cross-line delivery of aid is very important ... but the cross line alone cannot do the work that it is doing with the cross border.''

Aid delivery from across the Turkish border into Syria, reached an average of 2.7 million people every month -- including early recovery and livelihood support to strengthen communities, according to the UN

Around 15.3 million people will require humanitarian protection and assistance in 2023, the highest since the beginning of the conflict in 2011, said the UN.

If the Security Council fails to extend resolution 2642, ''the consequences will be catastrophic for 4.1 million people in non-Government controlled areas,'' the heads of the UN humanitarian affairs office, International Organization for Migration, UN Children's Fund, the World Food Program, the World Health Organization, the UN Population Fund and the UN refugee agency said in a statement.

“At the peak of winter and amidst a serious cholera outbreak, women and children comprise the majority of people who need assistance just to survive,'' it said.

The UN reported 62,000 suspected cholera cases, including 100 deaths from the disease last December.

For years, the Assad regime has sought to get rid of the aid mechanism with the help of Russia, which would prevent access to the northwest of Syria that is controlled by the rebels.

The aid delivery was reduced to one border crossing from four in the years when Russia and China vetoed UN resolutions seeking to preserve the cross-border aid lifeline to northwest Syria.