On Saturday July 11, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2533 with 12 votes in favor, 3 abstentions (Russia, China, and the Dominican Republic), and zero vetoes. The resolution authorizes UN cross-border assistance in northwest Syria through Bab-al-Hawa for 12 months. However, this means that the UN can no longer utilize the Bab-al-Salam border crossing. 

In response to this vote, SIRF, the NGO forum, SNA, and SNL have released a statement reflecting their deep concern that the UN Security Council has voted to scale back humanitarian assistance to millions of acutely vulnerable people in Syria.

The UN’s assistance cross-border has enabled life-saving assistance to reach over four million people who are in need of humanitarian aid. With the resolution, members of the UN Security Council decided to close yet another critical channel of aid that has helped to sustain millions of Syrians, the majority of whom are women and children.

Read the whole statement here.