UN: Syria Prevents Humanitarian Aid to the Besieged

A UN official states that the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria is obstructing humanitarian aid from the organization to over half a million besieged civilians. According to the Associated Press, Stephen O'Brien, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, reported on Friday, June 7, that intentional interventions by the Syrian government have delayed the delivery of humanitarian aid to more than half a million civilians living in besieged areas. O'Brien, who was reporting to the UN Security Council from Geneva, added that approximately 452,000 of these individuals are under siege by Syrian government forces. The Under-Secretary-General stated that even when the necessary permits for sending aid are issued, government forces still obstruct the delivery of this aid to those in need. He noted that the UN intended to provide aid to one million and one hundred thousand people in 34 besieged areas that are difficult to access this month, but the Syrian government only approved aid for 14 areas. According to this UN official, the Syrian government conditionally accepted aid for eight other areas, but as a result, over 40% of people in besieged areas, including in Aleppo, have been deprived of access to minimum food supplies for survival. Stephen O'Brien also mentioned instances where the Syrian government, despite approving the dispatch of aid convoys, prevents their movement by revoking permits at the last moment. Bashar Jaafari, Syria's permanent representative to the UN, criticized O'Brien's statements, claiming that Turkey is using UN convoys to send weapons and ammunition to the Syrian government's opponents. He stated that cooperation should not be one-sided, and the UN should also work with the Syrian government. Regarding alternative methods for delivering aid, Stephen O'Brien concluded by mentioning other possibilities for air delivery of aid by dropping food packages in besieged areas, but he deemed these methods costly, dangerous, and difficult. He noted that using such methods for several weeks in Deir ez-Zor resulted in the delivery of only 762 tons of food, which could be delivered to the people with just one convoy. Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, stated on Thursday that a new round of peace talks between representatives of the Assad government and its opponents will be held whenever possible, but it seems unlikely to take place in the next two or three weeks. Meanwhile, Jan Egeland, de Mistura's deputy and the coordinator of humanitarian actions in Syria, warned on Thursday that the slow pace of delivering necessary aid to residents in besieged areas has resulted in children dying from malnutrition in three besieged locations under government control. Egeland added, 'Out of the one million people we were supposed to deliver necessary aid to via land routes in May, we have only been able to reach 160,000.' Earlier in the last month, the US and Russia agreed on a ceasefire plan in Syria. However, fighting resumed last month in three locations, including Aleppo. The latest statistics on casualties from the civil war in Syria indicate that the number of people who have lost their lives in this war has exceeded 280,000. According to new figures released by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the total number of fatalities is reported to be 282,283, of which 81,436 were civilians. In this context, Syrian opposition groups have conditioned any potential ceasefire on the cessation of Russian attacks.