UN impasse on border crossing puts 4.1 million Syrians at risk: Aid official

An impasse at the United Nations over a border crossing with Syrias last rebelheld enclave is putting 41 million Syrian there in danger the president of the International Rescue Committee warned this week reported APDavid Milibands comments came more than two weeks after the UN Security Council failed to renew the mandate for the Bab alHawa border crossing between Syria and Turkey which secures aid for Syrians in the enclaveThe vast majority of people in northwestern Syria live in poverty and rely on aid to survive a crisis that was further worsened by a devastating magnitude 78 earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria in FebruaryThe earthquake killed more than 50000 people including over 6000 in Syria according to the United Nations The quake also displaced hundreds of thousands of others The people of northwest Syria can ill afford a new wave of suffering having lived through the trauma of the earthquake Miliband told The Associated Press in an interview on TuesdayHe urged the Security Council to do its job and resume the humanitarian border crossing The council earlier in July failed to adopt one of two rival resolutions on the crossingRussia a top ally of the Syrian government in Damascus vetoed a SwissBrazilian compromise resolution backed by Western countries that renewed authorisation for the crossing of aid through Bab alHawa for six monthsMoscows draft resolution with additional requirements including increasing aid delivery to the opposition enclave through Damascus only received Chinas backing The paralysis also comes as donor fatigue has led to aid cuts in aid to both northwestern Syria and neighbouring countries hosting millions of Syrian refugees who fled the ongoing conflict now in its 13th yearSyrian President Bashar Assad opened two additional crossing points from Turkey at Bab alSalameh and alRai to increase the aid flow to the quake victimsThe UN says that some 85 per cent of its aid to northwestern Syria goes through Bab alHawa a more efficient route For the moment Miliband said the International Rescue Committee is trying to cope by using other crossings and finding other ways of getting aid into the enclaveOur point of view is that interference with the humanitarian crossing point poses severe danger to the efficiency and the effectiveness of humanitarian aid he explainedAdditionally the United States said Monday that it has joined major donors in demanding the UN be able to deliver aid through Bab alHawa independently and to everyone in need a rejection of conditions set by Syria and backed by its ally Russia that Damascus control all aid and banning UN communications with rebels in the regionThe Security Council initially authorised aid deliveries in 2014 from Turkey Iraq and Jordan through four border crossing points into rebelheld areas in SyriaHowever Russia backed by China over the years successfully applied pressure to reduce the authorized crossings to just Bab alHawa and the mandates from a year to six monthsMoscow alleges that militant groups in the northwestern province of Idlib are taking the aid and preventing it from reaching families in need Russia and China have been calling for all aid to be routed through Damascus insteadBut Syrians in the northwestern enclave as well as Western countries critical of Assad say they are skeptical of the push Theres a lot of danger for people in need in northwest Syria Miliband said And its very important that theyre not forgottenAP