The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution Monday authorizing humanitarian convoys to assist more than one million Syrian civilians in areas out of government control, without the consent of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The council unanimously approved the measure, including permanent members Russia and China.
Since February, however, Bashar Assad has continued to bar cross-border deliveries to these areas and insist that all shipments go through the capital Damascus, which has meant the overwhelming majority of aid has gone to government-controlled areas.
The shipments will travel through four different border crossings – two in Turkey (Bab a-Salam and Bab al-Hawa), one in Iraq (Al-Yarubiyah) and another in Jordan (Al-Ramtha). All three neighbouring countries are also hosting large numbers of refugees from Syria
More than 10.8 million Syrians are in need of aid, according to UN officials, who have say Damascus is impeding the deliveries of life-saving supplies.
