Former UK FM calls to reopen northern Syrian border crossing for aid

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Former British Foreign Secretary and head of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) David Miliband called on the United Nations Security Council to reopen a border crossing into northeastern Syria that is vital for transporting medical and other humanitarian aid to nearly two million civilians.

In late December, China and Russia vetoed a resolution to keep open the Yaroubiyeh border crossing, which connects areas in Syria held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) eastward to Iraq. The move is widely seen as an attempt by Russia to limit assistance to the area in support of Damascus. 

Read More: Syrian Kurds criticize UN decision limiting humanitarian aid to Syria 

As a result, the UN’s Yaroubiyeh operation that had previously supplied 40 percent of the medical provisions used in SDF-run areas was closed in January. 

The decision had “shamefully rolled back humanitarian access in Syria, removing a critical border crossing from Iraq into Kurdish-controlled areas of Northeast Syria,” Milliband said in a public statement addressing a UN Secretary General’s report on the impact of the cross border resolution that closed the border operation.

According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in northeastern Syria. The crossing point was used to transport critical medicine and medical supplies and it’s expected that medical stocks are expected to run out in the coming months. 

Milliband added that, according to the report, “reproductive health kits could be depleted by March; and that items needed to undertake medical procedures related to maternal health, like caesarian section, will not be available.”

He warned that the recent closing of the crossing put the lives of mothers and babies in needless jeopardy.   

“The UN says that by May there is likely to be a gap in basic medicines in medical facilities – further limiting the ability of doctors and nurses to treat those in need. This again makes it crystal clear – there is no alternative to cross border humanitarian aid.” 

On Feb. 22, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Security Council to provide aid to northeastern Syria through the Tal Abyad border crossing, as an alternative to the closed Yaroubiya crossing.

But the Kurdish-led authorities have rejected this, fearing this would give Turkey control over vital aid flowing to northeastern Syria and further legitimatizes Turkish control over territories it occupied during its October 2019 offensive. 

Read More: Syrian Kurds reject UN suggestion to provide aid through Turkish border crossing 

Miliband agreed with the local Kurdish-led administration that there is no alternative to using the Yaroubiya crossing when considering feasible alternative border crossing points that would ensure humanitarian assistance “through the most direct routes and in accordance with humanitarian principles.”

“If evaluated by those three, clear metrics, we believe the alternatives in the report would come with untenable security, logistic, and access challenges and constraints. Re-opening Yaroubiya is the only option that passes the test,” he concluded.

Finally, he called on Security Council members to adopt a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Idlib, where heavy fighting between Turkish-backed rebels, the Turkish army, and the pro-Syrian government forces have affected hundreds of thousands of civilians and “make clear their support for the renewal of cross border humanitarian aid.” 

“Anything less is a serious abdication of the Council’s authority and global standing.”

Editing by John J. Catherine