The Weaponization of Humanitarian Aid
Foreign AffairsJan 09, 2023
The UN Security Council has unanimously voted to maintain a cross-border mechanism that allows humanitarian aid to be delivered from Turkey to the rebel-held northwestern Syrian region of Idlib, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called an "indispensable lifeline" for 4.1M people.
The resolution extends critical aid deliveries for another six months. Since Syria’s government has not agreed to the humanitarian operation, authorization from the UN’s highest decision body was required to continue the shipments to opposition-controlled areas, which began in 2014.
While a crisis has been temporarily averted in Syria, Western countries should have pushed to extend humanitarian aid to the country for at least a year to avoid allowing nations like Russia to weaponize relief efforts. Putin and Assad are trying to exercise diplomatic legitimacy for their oppressive regimes, and they should not be allowed to interfere with life-or-death aid.
Syria’s government should be sovereign and the primary provider of aid to the Syrian people. Western countries care very little about the needs of ordinary citizens and use aid to exercise influence over other countries’ governments. This is evident in the fact that the majority of aid is going to Idlib, while only 35% goes to the areas where most Syrians live.