(New York) – The UN Security Council has adopted a unanimous but non-binding resolution, calling for humanitarian aid convoys to be allowed access across war-torn Syria, but diplomats immediately voiced doubt about its effectiveness. Syria’s staunch ally Russia, with support from China, has blocked three previous resolutions aimed at pressuring the Damascus regime since the crisis began in March 2011, with an estimated half of all Syrians urgently awaiting immediate help.
But Moscow and Beijing, two of the five permanent Security Council members, did not do so this time, sending a strong message to President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is accused of serious rights violations in attempting to hold on to power.
The resolution does not threaten sanctions but it does express the council’s intention to take “further steps” if the resolution is not implemented. The government and rebels hold several areas in the country under siege, leaving tens of thousands of people suffering from lack of food and medicine.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the move, but said the resolution “should not have been necessary”. “Humanitarian assistance is not something to be negotiated; it is something to be allowed by virtue of international law,” he added.