Syria

Refugees, Aid Groups Condemn UN Decision to Limit Syrian Aid Crossings

"Lives will be lost. Suffering will intensify," aid agencies operating in Syria said in a joint statement

The United Nations Security Council on Saturday adopted a resolution that leaves only one of two border crossings open for aid deliveries from Turkey into Syria, NBC News reports.

“The veto is against us,” Mustafa Alkaser told NBC News from a refugee camp in Syria's northwestern Idlib province.

“It’s against the refugees, against the free Syrians who once stood up against Bashar al-Assad and demanded their freedom and dignity," he said Sunday in a telephone interview. Al-Assad, Syria's president, has clung to power for 20 years — the last nine of which have been amid a bloody civil war.

Aid agencies and doctors have also criticized the decision that will lead to the closure of the Bab al-Salam crossing in northern Syria for aid deliveries. Food, medicine and other lifesaving assistance will now be transported through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing alone.

The decision came days after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the region on Thursday, raising fears for an area where hospitals lie in ruins and camps overflow with people after nearly a decade of war.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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