BOISE, Idaho – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement ahead of the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) vote to renew and expand cross-border humanitarian aid into Syria:
“Over the last two years, three of four U.N.-backed and monitored border crossings allowing life-saving aid into Syria have closed thanks to Russia and China’s veto powers on the UNSC. Currently, more than 90% of the Syrian population is in need of assistance. If the last remaining humanitarian border crossing is closed, millions will suffer or die. And despite Kremlin propaganda, the U.N. has confirmed there can be no reliable alternative to cross-border aid deliveries.
“One year ago in an op-ed for the New York Times, I wrote: ‘In 12 months, when the Syria border-crossing resolution comes up for renewal again, Russia and China will almost assuredly again be on the wrong side of humanity.’ We must not let this nefarious alliance of Bashar Al-Assad, the Kremlin, and Beijing continue to manipulate aid as a tool of war.
“It is critical that the UNSC votes this week to renew the last remaining crossing, Bab Al-Hawa, and reopen the previously closed crossings in Bab Al-Salam and Al-Yaroubiya, to ensure aid gets to those most vulnerable. The United States remains committed to supporting the Syrian people.”
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