to northwest Syria -- not green-lit by Damascus -- remains "essential," the UN said Monday, as the measure was de facto extended for six months without a new Security Council vote.The council had previously renewed the authorization allowing aid into rebel-held areas in the country's northwest "for a period of six months... until 10 January 2022," through the crossing at Bab al-Hawa on the Syrian border with
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...
The text provided for "an extension of an additional six months, that is, until 10 July 2022," subject to a report by the UN Secretary-General.
For the West, the renewal to July had been interpreted as automatic, while Russia had raised the possibility of requesting a new Security Council vote, though it has not taken that step.
In his December report, UN chief António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...had stressed the impossibility of replacing at this stage the cross-border mechanism for one that crossed front lines from Damascus.
Moscow favors this method as recognition of the Syrian government's illusory sovereignty over the whole country.
Aid through the Bab al-Hawa crossing primarily serves the roughly three million people living in the Idlib region, which remains outside Damascus' control.
"The cross-border delivery of aid is essential," UN front man Stephane Dujarric said during his daily briefing.
"We need aid to be delivered through cross-border and through cross-line. Those are essential elements for us to meet the humanitarian needs of all Syrians."
Asked about the lack of a new Security Council vote, he said "we would welcome any decision that would allow us to continue with this vital cross-border aid."