The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has warned that failure to renew the UN-led cross-border mechanism in northwestern Syria will have a devastating impact on millions of Syrians currently reliant on cross-border assistance to access critical health services.

According to the IRC, the UN-led cross-border mechanism in northwestern Syria is set to expire on July 10, 2022 and as such, urged the UN Security Council to urgently re-authorize the resolution this week.

In 2021, 1.3 million people received life-saving health assistance through the Bab-Al Hawa crossing, the last remaining cross-border channel which is at risk of being shuttered.

Almost 60% of outpatient consultations across the country rely on assistance provided cross-border. In the northwest of the country, the area most reliant on cross-border aid, more than 3.1 million people currently require humanitarian support to access basic health services.

New IRC data recently collected from communities in northwestern Syria between March and April 2022, drove home just how reliant people are in the region on humanitarian assistance to receive health support.

The IRC noted that 98% of the women interviewed, and almost 90% of the men, reported struggling to find medicines as a key barrier when they tried accessing basic health services. This represents a 50% and 30% increase respectively since the same period last year, according to the IRC.

For the 63 hospitals, 170 primary health centers, 42 specialized care centers and 45 mobile clinics currently providing health services across the northwest of Syria, the UN’s cross-border mechanism is quite simply a life-line. If not reauthorized, humanitarian International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) like the IRC will be unable to fill the gaps in medical stocks and services.

One of IRC’s clients, a 42-year-old displaced Syrian, in northwest Syria said “Just talking about the ending of humanitarian aid makes me feel anxious”.

“My worries increase and I begin to imagine myself in the street and not getting my medicine. My family would have to resort to begging so we can afford to buy them privately. I hope that they [the UN Security Council] will continue to allow the passage of humanitarian aid into Syria and that, it will not stop. We count on them to continue this support and to save us from a possible disaster”.
A 42-year-old displaced Syrian

Ensuring supply of essential medical services

David Miliband, IRC President and CEO disclosed that the IRC’s teams and its health partners are working tirelessly in northern Syria to ensure essential medical services and supplies reach those who need them the most.

“The impact of eleven years of conflict has left Syria’s health system struggling to cope. Across the country Syrian communities are now without sufficient functional health facilities, essential medical supplies, or qualified personnel. When cross-border access was cut off to northeast Syria in January 2020, the negative impact on people’s daily lives was immediate. Millions now stand to lose access to healthcare when they need it most”.
David Miliband, IRC President and CEO

David Miliband further said that for Syrians living in the northwest of the country, failing to reauthorize the only remaining border crossing could represent the biggest attack on healthcare since the humanitarian crisis began.

He indicated that this is why IRC is unequivocal in its call for the UN Security Council to put principles above politics and reauthorize its cross-border mechanism for 12 months to ensure more lives are not needlessly lost.