Beirut, February 12 The head of UN humanitarian aid, Martin Griffiths, admitted on Sunday that his organization had “disappointed the population of northwestern Syria”, one of the areas most affected by the earthquakes that hit the country and where hardly any humanitarian aid arrived.
“So far we have let the people of northwestern Syria down. They rightly feel abandoned, looking for international help that has not arrived,” he said on his Twitter account. Griffiths, who spoke about the Turkish-Syrian divide, without specifying which side. .
Since last Monday’s earthquake, the White Helmets relief group has denounced that it has not received United Nations aid in the opposition areas of northwestern Syria, which are difficult to access since you cannot access it only by a single border crossing, that of Bab le Hawa. , which connects Turkey to the Syrian province of Idlib.
Even the head of the rescue group, Raed Saleh, said on Friday that “the UN bureaucracy participated in the massacre of the Syrian people”.
Faced with a barrage of criticism of the United Nations, Griffiths tweeted that his “duty and obligation is to correct this decision as quickly as possible.”
Griffiths made the comments shortly before meeting with the leader of the White Helmets on the Turkish-Syrian border today, Saleh announced on Twitter.
“We appreciate apologies for shortcomings and mistakes. Recognizing that this is the start of the right path,” the rescue group leader said.
He also urged the UN to “act outside the Security Council” to open three crossing points for the entry of humanitarian aid into northwestern Syria.
Currently, the UN and its humanitarian partners are only allowed to use the Bab al Hawa crossing point to deliver aid from abroad to the population of rebel-held areas, where millions of people depend on food. international aid.
This is happening because, since the Security Council, Russia has forced the number of available crossing points to be reduced to just one, since the Syrian government – a great ally of Moscow – insists that all operations be carried out at from its territory and considers that the entry of Turkish aid violates its independence and territorial integrity. EFE
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