The mechanism for entering aid.. Al-Bukai criticizes Russia, UN, Mohamed calls for depoliticizing the file

Today, the UNSC is supposed to discuss the fate of the mechanism for bringing aid into Syria, as the adviser on international policies in Washington, Marah Al-Bukai, confirmed that Russia’s veto on the aid entry Tal Koçer / Al-Yarubiyah crossing aims to “pressure Washington and monopolize Syria,” while a representative of the Syrian Democratic Council in Washington warned from the danger of using file as a political pressure card.

On July 9, 2021, the UN Security Council extended the mechanism for the entry of aid into Syria through the Bab al-Hawa crossing, which is controlled by the mercenaries of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, listed on the international terrorism list) for a period of six months, while keeping the Tal Koçer/ al-Yarubiyah crossing, closed to aid, after the United Nations and Western powers succumbed to Russian pressure.

This period ends on the 10th of January, and the UNSC is supposed to hold a session a day before this date to discuss extending, not extending, or amending the aid entry mechanism.

Before the last extension of the mechanism for the entry of aid, Ireland and Norway acquiesced to the Russian position and changed the draft resolution that it had previously submitted to the Security Council on the entry of aid into Syria.

In its basic form, the draft resolution stipulated two things: extending for one year the mechanism for bringing cross-border aid into Syria from the Bab al-Hawa (northwest) border crossing with Turkey and expanding the scope of this mechanism to also include the Tal Koçer /Al Yaroubiyah border crossing with Iraq, as it was in the past.

After this, the two countries changed the draft resolution, as they abandoned the demand to reopen the Tel Koçer crossing, and only kept the Bab al-Hawa crossing, which is under the control of the mercenaries of HTS.

Aid is everyone’s right

Adviser on international politics in Washington, Marah Al-Bukai, spoke in this context to our agency, saying: “All crossings must be open, and the United Nations can bring the necessary aid from them to the Syrian people wherever they are, and in any area, whether it is under the control of the regime or under the control of the opposition.” This is a normal thing, the strange thing is, and the exception is that one of the crossings is not open, and this is a big problem that we face with the United Nations.”

Concerning the role of the UN, Marah Al-Beqai said: “You must put a lot of pressure to keep all these crossings open because we all know that the aid that enters through the regime does not go to all the needy, but rather is distributed selectively and sometimes maliciously.”

She added: “All crossings must be opened, including the Yarubiyah crossing, so that the Syrian people can receive humanitarian aid, which is a natural right for them in their current circumstances, especially in the circumstances of Corona.”

In 2014, the Security Council approved cross-border aid for the first time, which also included an entry from Jordan and Iraq. While the transfer of aid through the two countries was halted in January 2020, due to Russia and China vetoes to allow the entry of UN aid through these two countries.

Al-Beqai stressed that “there is no difference between the Northeast and Northwest when it is related to the human being and his natural right to the necessary and necessary assistance at this time.

But despite this, Russia prevents aid through Al Yarubia border crossing between the Autonomous Administration areas and Iraq, while allowing it through the Bab al-Hawa crossing, which is controlled by groups designated as terrorists.

There are many dangers of not getting aid into NES

The closure of the Tel Koçer/Al Yaroubiya crossing negatively affected 5 million Syrians in north and east Syria, which includes nearly one million displaced people and refugees from other Syrian regions, not to mention hundreds of thousands of ISIS mercenaries and members of their families that the AANES takes care of.

Regarding the dangers that may result from the continued failure to bring aid into northern and eastern Syria through the Tel Koçer / Al Yarubia crossing, the adviser on international policies in Washington, Marah Al-Bukai, said: “There are many dangers, the first danger is the Corona pandemic, and it is a global danger even in areas where all of these are available. Types of health care, social distancing, and vaccination, so how is the situation in areas of conflict and war, where these conditions are not well provided, and the conditions for sterilization and social distancing are all not well provided, and this worsens the health situation and exacerbates the spread of the pandemic.

She explained that “the issue of the Covid-19 epidemic is a very serious thing, and it is very important for the aid that contains first medical aid to arrive in this regard. The camps also suffer from the siege and suffer from the need for heating materials in the winter, and this is a very worrying thing for us and our people who are there.”

Russian pressure through aid to single out Syria

Regarding Russia’s use of its veto against the opening of the Yarubiyah crossing, Marah al-Biqai said: “It is not new for Russia to bomb the homes of Syrians over their heads with planes, and forcing the regime to use all kinds of forbidden weapons in order to kill and target civilians, and it is not strange for it to deny aid. This is a simple thing in view of the extent of the killing and destruction that it has practiced against the Syrian people, among the defenseless civilians.”

As for Russia’s goals in this regard, Marah Al-Bukai said: “The political goal is to put pressure on the United States in particular. We know that there have been successive visits by American officials, including Mrs. Linda Thomas Greenfield, the United States representative at the United Nations, to the crossings with the Turkish border, and they sent A message from there to the world that these crossings must remain open, including the Yarubiyah crossing.

She added, “The Al Yarubiyah crossing is not an exception. Of course, Russia wants to pressure the United States of America for more concessions, especially since there are close negotiations in Geneva between the two parties.”

Al-Biqai explained that “Russia’s contradiction is part of a long-term plan to control the capabilities politically in Syria. It cannot move freely with the presence of the United States. It wants America to be outside the picture, and it is very worried about its presence in the east of the Euphrates and its support for the Kurdish partners who fought with it against ISIS and win together against ISIS.”l-Biqai believes that Russia “wants to single out Syria, and even its allies Turkey and Iran are an obsession with it because it wants to be the only one capable of singling out the political decision, managing the country, investing the country’s bounties, and establishing the projects it wants during the reconstruction and investment phase alone, as it does not want a competitor to it.” This is the main reason for the Russian contradictions in the resolutions, its intransigence, and its use of its veto in the Security Council. It wants complete control over Syria, and of course, Bashar al-Assad with his weakness, lack of wisdom, and treachery of the Syrian people, and Syria has enabled and can do that every day.”

A disgrace in the history of the United Nations

The United Nations’ abandonment of the opening of the Tel Koçer/Al Yaroubiya crossing for aid entry shows the extent of the United Nations’ inability and acquiescence to the interests of the great powers and its distance from the goals for which it says it was formed, and how it has turned into a platform to legitimize the control of the great powers over peoples.

Al-Biqai sent a message to the United Nations, saying: “It is enough obstruction. It is enough that the United Nations is not able to find mechanisms to implement Resolution 2254, and this is a disgrace in the history of the United Nations. A decision that was unanimous even by Russia, which participated in the war against Syria, The United Nations was unable to find the mechanisms to implement this resolution. It is enough inaction on the part of the United Nations, and it is enough failure to find solutions for Syria.”

She stressed that “the weakest of faith should press towards opening all crossings and introducing emergency aid. There is a health emergency in the north of Syria, east and west, and there is also a case accompanying the winter season and a need for heating materials and necessary foods, because food, when it arrives at the right time, helps protect them from the pandemic and because poor nutrition leads to the spread of the pandemic more and the body is not resistant to this pandemic, the United Nations must move immediately to open all crossings and deliver aid in a timely manner to all Syrians without exception.

SDC representative in Washington: The humanitarian file is used as a political card

The representative of the SDC in the American capital, Washington, Sinem Muhammad, also spoke in this context to our agency, and said: “We are on the threshold of other sessions of the Security Council to discuss the mechanism for the entry of humanitarian aid into Syria. The decision to open Bab al-Hawa crossing was only through a Russian-American consensus. “

Muhammad assessed the situation in the region, saying: “The poverty and increasing numbers of displaced people in the regions in Syria are witnessing in the regions of the north and east Syria, in addition to dozens of displacement camps and camps for ISIS families, imposes an urgent need to bring aid into the region in light of the spread of the Corona pandemic. And in light of the sanctions and siege on the region, especially after the closure of the Tel Koçer/Al Yaroubiya crossing and the cutting off of international aid that was entering the region.”

On the last extension, the representative of SDF said: “The authorization to open Bab al-Hawa crossing only and the omission of the Tal Koçer / Al-Yarubiyah crossing leads to the suffering of five million Syrians living in north and east Syria. These crossings are necessary to alleviate the crisis of poverty and suffering in the region.”

Sinem Muhammad criticized the use of the humanitarian file as a political card and said: “It seems that the humanitarian crossings are being used as a political pressure card in the Syrian file, so it is necessary that the need, poverty and destitution of the Syrians should not be exploited in the political files, so they must be distanced from politics.”

Muhammad said: “The entry of aid through Bab al-Hawa has also been authorized. We demand the opening of the Al-Yarubiyah crossing, similar to other areas, and we demand that the aid enter the Syrian territories, whether it is under the regime’s control or outside its control, through the Al-Yarubiyah crossing to save millions of displaced people in their camps under harsh conditions.”

“We demand a correct decision and attention to the danger of the camps and detention centers of ISIS.”

The representative of SDC sent a message to the international community, and said: “We ask the international community to look at this file in a humane manner and to take the right decision to save the lives of Syrians from cold and poverty, by opening the Yarubiyah crossing, and not to forget that the danger of the camps and detention centers of thousands of ISIS poses a danger.” perpetuating the region and its population.

SDC representative in Washington, Sinem Muhammad, concluded her speech by saying: “This file has become used as a political card, sometimes to meet requests or concessions, and sometimes to reach political consensus in the Syrian file.”