Key aid route to Syria closes as UN fails to extend authorisation

A UN-brokered agreement that allows for the delivery of aid overland from Türkiye into Syria has expired after the United Nations Security Council failed to hold a vote to reauthorise it.

The 15 members of the council had been trying for days to find a compromise to extend the deal, which since 2014 has allowed for food, water and medicine to be trucked to northwestern Syria.

But the vote, first scheduled for Friday, was postponed to Monday - and then again to Tuesday morning, a source in the British mission to the UN, which holds the presidency of the Security Council, told AFP.

This means that as humanitarian convoys wrapped up their operations on Monday night, the future of the aid corridor was in doubt - it cannot resume operations until the United Nations reauthorises it.

The aid mechanism originally allowed for four entry points into Syria, though now only the Bab al Hawa crossing remains passable. The accord comes up for renewal every six months due to pressure from Damascus ally Moscow.

The crossing provides for more than 80 percent of the needs of people living in opposition-controlled areas - everything from diapers and blankets to chickpeas. The Syrian regime regularly denounces aid deliveries as a violation of its sovereignty.

Last-minute efforts failed

Negotiations continued all day at the UN on Monday as officials scrambled to reach a last-minute deal but ultimately failed.

"We want to do all we can for the 4.1 million people in Syria who desperately need aid," British Ambassador and Security Council President Barbara Woodward said earlier in the day.

"We are still working very, very hard to find common ground with one and one goal only in mind: it's the humanitarian imperative, the needs on the ground," Swiss ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl said.

According to several diplomatic sources, the latest resolution - drafted by Switzerland and Brazil - would have allowed for a one-year renewal, as demanded by humanitarian workers.

But Russia, which in July 2022 vetoed a one-year extension, was again insisting it would only agree to another six-month deal, according to the same sources.

Switzerland and Brazil are now said to have put a nine-month renewal on the table.

UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths had last week again called for the opening of more crossing points, for at least 12 months.

The situation "is intolerable for the people of the northwest, and those brave souls who help them to go through these ups and downs every six months," he said, pointing out that humanitarian agencies have to bring pre-positioned stock into the country every time access is threatened, in case the crossing is closed.

According to the UN, four million people in Syria depend on humanitarian assistance to survive following years of conflict, economic strife and devastating earthquakes.