In January the UN reduced the number of crossings, getting rid of Al Yarubiyah and Ramtha because of a backroom deal between the supporters of Security Council Resolution 2504 and abstentions from China, Russia, the UK and US.The US ostensibly is supposed to be helping support and stabilize areas in eastern Syria where its partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces, have defeated ISIS. But the US has systematically isolated the Kurdish region of eastern Syria, as US diplomats work with Turkey while the US military works with the SDF. This led to a reduction in aid to the area as well, even though there are millions of people, including tens of thousands of former ISIS detainees trying to rebuild their lives after ISIS’s defeat.Russia, Iran and Turkey want the US to leave eastern Syria, and cutting off aid is a way to weaken the US role. In addition Russia, apparently backed by China, wants the Syrian regime to be the sole player in control of the borders. Russia, Turkey and Iran recently held discussions about this. We know that China and Russia will be supporting an end to an arms embargo on Iran, and that Iran has agreed to support Turkey’s war in Libya and war against Kurdish groups in Iraq. It now appears they are all working together regarding restricting aid to Syria. Russia and China, on the UN Security Council, used their veto at the UN this week to make sure aid would cross via only one crossing now.Amnesty International calls the Russia and China decision “despicable.” Russia’s TASS thinks it’s a normal and proper process, slowly reducing the number of crossings not run by the Syrian government. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke to his German counterpart, Heiko Mass, and stressed that “all humanitarian operations should be coordinated with Damascus.”What this means is that Damascus can use aid as a weapon, by not providing it to certain areas as leverage to bring rebel areas under its control. It already does this in many regions. The Syrian regime is so weak that it hogs the aid closer to Damascus and it rarely even trickles down to the provinces.But European countries, the US and others won’t press the issue. Instead, China and Russia appear set to decide what will happen.The UN has largely allowed itself to become a weapon in this aid war. In the years of the Syrian conflict, the UN provided food aid via airdrop to Deir al-Zor when it was under siege by ISIS, so the UN could drop aid to places like eastern Syria or al-Tank’s Rukban camp, where people are in need. But airdrops were done only for regime-controlled areas. This illustrates that aid was not about people, but about governments.Russia was very clear on this issue at the UN. The resolution by Germany and Belgium that would have kept more gates open was vetoed because it bypasses Damascus. Russia argues the situation in Syria has improved and the government controls most of the country, so there is no need for all these independent crossings. That might be a correct assessment if it was true that the aid was distributed equally and everywhere via Damascus. Evidence shows that in Syria, the aid is not distributed everywhere. Whole swaths of the country don’t appear to receive it. It seems as if it is being used as a way to pressure the US to leave and then to reduce the areas Turkey controls and their access to aid.The US, a world superpower, has not gone to bat for its partners in eastern Syria on the aid issue. Instead, the US has generally withdrawn from many UN institutions, and the White House says foreign wars in “faraway” places are not the US’s responsibility.The US diplomats of Syrian envoy James Jeffrey’s team have also sidelined US partners in eastern Syria, making sure they don’t play a role in the future constitutional discussions or other discussions about Syria’s next step. With rare exceptions, the US has transformed its partners in eastern Syria into subcontractors to guard ISIS detainees and secure oil, and they don’t even get humanitarian aid in return.Despite the UN vote, many human rights groups continue to press for aid to flow via various crossings. On June 23 the Norwegian Refugee Council, along with 20 other aid agencies, signed a letter asking the UN to reopen Al Yarubiyah crossing. It noted that many healthcare facilities were at risk of closing, at the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic. There are an estimated 11.1 million Syrians in need of assistance.#Russia, #China veto UN approval of aid deliveries to #Syria from #Turkey https://t.co/Rllkop5J0Q pic.twitter.com/KVbfDHN1DV
— Press TV (@PressTV) July 8, 2020
The war for humanitarian aid to Syria seeks to empower Damascus
The US, a world superpower, has not gone to bat for its partners in eastern Syria on the aid issue.
