Humanitarian Groups Urge UN To Renew Syria Aid

As a United Nations mandate for the last border crossing for aid into northwestern Syria is nearing expiration, dozens of aid groups on Tuesday urged the U.N. Security Council to renew the resolution.

The Daily Sabah added that the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the border between northern Syria and southern Turkey is the only one through which U.N. relief can be brought into the Idlib region without navigating areas controlled by the Syrian regime.

An open letter to the Security Council signed by aid groups including the International Rescue Committee, Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children said; "The magnitude of the crisis demands the reauthorisation of cross-border assistance for a minimum of 12 months.

"Anything less would signal to Syrians that the Council is willing to accept unnecessary suffering and loss of life."

The letter added; "Should aid cease, more parents will be forced to choose between skipping meals or sending their children to work; more girls forced into early marriage to provide income for food; and more children forced out of school."

The Idlib region is home to nearly 3 million people, two-thirds of them displaced from other parts of the country.

Nearly 75% of the total population in the Idlib region depends on humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs, as 1.6 million people continue to live in camps or informal settlements.