UN extends Syria cross-border aid without challenge from Russia
The Biden administration eased restrictions on aid groups working with the Syrian government in November.
The United Nations has extended authorization to deliver aid from Turkey into Syria’s opposition-held Idlib province for another six months.
Bab al-Hawa is the last Syrian border crossing authorized for direct aid deliveries into parts of the country not controlled by the Syrian government. UN authorizations for cross-border aid into other opposition areas have all lapsed amid Russia’s insistence that aid be directed through Damascus.
Why it matters: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres argued in a confidential report last month that Damascus-routed aid could not replace the existing cross-border delivery system.
“Cross-border assistance remains lifesaving for millions of people in northwest Syria,” Guterres wrote in the document.
