“Russia and China’s double veto today of the Security Council resolution to reauthorize cross-border humanitarian assistance reaching 4 million Syrians in need is reprehensible. After nearly nine years of conflict, as millions of Syrians are struggling to cope, they should at least be assured that they can continue to rely on the United Nations and its partners to provide medical assistance and other essential goods across Syria’s borders, as they have for the last five years. I cannot imagine how Syrian mothers must feel right now, as they contemplate the consequences of a shuttered cross-border humanitarian operation as temperatures drop and they have no shelter for their children. In fact, at this very moment thousands of families are fleeing airstrikes and shelling in Idlib with uncertain access to the assistance and protection they will desperately need. This is a nightmare no parent should have to confront.
CARE appeals to all 15 members of the Security Council to go back to the negotiating table today to work out how they will ensure full, unhindered humanitarian access is guaranteed to vulnerable Syrians, regardless of where they live. It’s imperative that humanitarian crossings remain open to deliver lifesaving assistance for the next year. In the absence of a peaceful solution to the conflict, that is the very least that the international community owes the long-suffering men, women and children of Syria.”
Media Contacts:
Mahmoud Shabeeb, mshabeeb@care.org, +962 79 146 39 03 (Amman, Jordan)
Vanessa Parra, vanessa.parra@care.org, +1 917-525-0590 (NYC)