The Chinese side has expressed its position that the Security Council has not passed the humanitarian | Syria | position
On the 11th, Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun elaborated on China's position on the humanitarian issue in Syria, emphasizing that providing humanitarian assistance to Syria should respect Syria's sovereignty and the leadership of the Syrian government.
On the same day, the Security Council voted on two draft resolutions regarding the extension of cross-border humanitarian aid authorization in Syria. The two draft resolutions were drafted by Brazil, Switzerland as co authors, and Russia, but were not adopted.
In his explanatory speech after the vote, Zhang Jun said that China regrets that the Security Council was unable to reach a consensus on this important issue. China's position on the humanitarian issue in Syria has been consistent and clear. China has always advocated that providing humanitarian assistance to Syria should respect Syria's sovereignty and the leadership of the Syrian government. Cross line rescue should become the main channel for humanitarian aid to Syria. The cross-border rescue mechanism is a temporary arrangement made under specific circumstances, which needs to accelerate the transition to cross-border rescue and achieve the gradual cancellation and eventual withdrawal of the cross-border mechanism.
Zhang Jun said that in dealing with the issue of authorization extension this time, taking into account the current humanitarian situation in Syria, China supports continuing to maintain cross-border rescue arrangements, while advocating that the Security Council must focus on solving the problems and shortcomings of existing humanitarian rescue mechanisms. One is to take practical measures to prevent the actual controlling party in northern and western Syria from obstructing cross line rescue again, and ensure that the frequency and scale of cross line rescue have significantly increased compared to the same period last year. The second is to further expand the scope of humanitarian activities, incorporate humanitarian demining into early recovery, and also support the Syrian people in key areas to achieve sustainable development, in order to consolidate the achievements of early recovery. The third is to ensure sufficient funding for the Syrian humanitarian community, which is also an important aspect of measuring the implementation of the resolution. The fourth is to face up to the negative impact of unilateral sanctions on humanitarian assistance and take practical measures to eliminate related negative impacts.
Zhang Jun stated that dialogue and consultation are the fundamental way to resolve differences and build consensus. To solve the current difficult situation faced by the Security Council, China calls on all parties to adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude, demonstrate political will, abandon double standards and politicize humanitarian issues, continue to patiently negotiate, and find the maximum common denominator and solution that can accommodate each other's concerns.
[Extended Reading] The United Nations Security Council has not reached a consensus on extending cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria
On July 11th local time, the United Nations Security Council voted to extend cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria. Due to the rejection or failure to reach a valid number of votes, the two draft resolutions drafted by Switzerland, Brazil, and Russia each failed to pass. The draft resolution drafted by Switzerland and Brazil calls for a 9-month extension of cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria, while the draft resolution drafted by Russia calls for a 6-month extension and the lifting of unilateral sanctions against Syria. Among them, the draft resolutions of Switzerland and Brazil received 13 votes in favor, China abstained, and Russia opposed. Due to Russia being a permanent member of the Security Council and having one veto power, the draft resolution was not passed. The Russian draft resolution was only approved by Russia and China, with 3 votes against and 10 abstentions. Due to the failure to reach the required number of votes in favor, the draft resolution was not passed. The United Nations Security Council voted on January 9th on the issue of cross-border humanitarian aid authorization for Syria and unanimously passed Resolution 2672, extending the authorization for six months until July 10th. The vote on this resolution has been postponed multiple times due to differences among Security Council members regarding the extension of authorization and sanctions against Syria. According to United Nations data, in 2022, 6.8 million Syrians were internally displaced and another 6.8 million became refugees, totaling approximately 14.6 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance, an increase of 1.2 million from 2021. It is expected that this number will reach a record high of 15.3 million by 2023. Approximately 4.1 million Syrians in the anti-government controlled areas of northwestern Syria rely on cross-border humanitarian aid. In 2014, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution authorizing cross-border humanitarian aid operations in Syria for the first time through four border crossing points. However, with the gradual cancellation of the authorization by the Security Council, the Babhawa crossing point on the border of Türkiye has become the last cross-border channel that can still be used for transportation assistance. Multiple humanitarian agencies of the United Nations have stated that extending authorization every six months poses challenges to logistics and operations, increases operating costs, and limits the ability of humanitarian partners to provide assistance. After the Turkey Syria earthquake this year, the Syrian government agreed in February to open two additional cross-border aid points for the transportation of humanitarian supplies for United Nations earthquake relief. In May of this year, it announced the extension of the transit points for three months until August 13th.
