UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY 90TH PLENARY MEETING AGENDA ITEM 60: USE OF THE VETO (SYRIA CROSS-BORDER AID MECHANISM)
19 July 2023
Statement by H.E. Dr Fiona Webster, Ambassador and Charge d'Affaires, Australian Mission to the United Nations
What unfortunately transpired last week in the Security Council has deeply concerned the Australian Government.
Russia’s veto of the Security Council’s Resolution authorising the delivery of critical aid to Syrians in need is indefensible.
For this to happen at a time when humanitarian needs in Syria are at their highest defies humanity.
Every single month, support delivered through the Bab al-Hawa crossing provides 2.7 million people with the food, essential medicine, and humanitarian supplies that they desperately need.
Once again, the cross-border mechanism is under threat.
But the pressure and humanitarian need remain immense.
Over twelve years of violent conflict, economic collapse, and devastating earthquakes earlier this year, have led to the dire situation in Syria.
A staggering 15.3 million Syrians require humanitarian assistance.
Around 4.1 million in northwest Syria alone.
Alleviating the ongoing suffering in northwest Syria requires unhindered and uninterrupted access for humanitarian actors. This is a principle we need to defend.
That is why a 12-month extension of this vital cross-border lifeline is necessary to ensure aid reliably reaches the most vulnerable.
While the Syrian regime has signalled the Bab al-Hawa crossing is open for UN agencies, the conditions are impractical and inconsistent with principled humanitarian action.
We cannot in good conscience allow vulnerable Syrians to be held captive to the political whims and ambitions of the Syrian regime and its Russian enablers.
Vital humanitarian assistance and access must not be weaponised.
Australia strongly supports the cross-border mechanism and calls on the Security Council to find a pathway forward to restore this lifeline.
We reiterate, a lasting end to the crisis in Syria can only be achieved through a peaceful resolution to the ongoing violence in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2254.
As today’s debate demonstrates, many members of this Assembly are deeply concerned by the ability of one state to block Council action on this critical humanitarian issue.
In our view, the General Assembly can play a role in such situations, consistent with its powers under the Charter.
Australia remains committed to working with international partners to end the suffering and to foster a better future for the people of Syria.