North and East Syria appeals to U.N. to reopen Yarubiyah Border Crossing

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA — The Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) of North and East Syria issued a public statement calling for the reopening of the Yarubiyah Border Crossing to U.N. humanitarian aid:

“Since the onset of the Syrian crisis, the DAA regions have been subjected to many attacks with the aim of exploiting, occupying, and threatening the inhabitants. The components of North and East Syria defend their regions because they are Syrian regions and considering these regions as separate from Syria is incorrect. The whole region and its people are affected by the general situation in Syria and the DAA people have never thought of not belonging to Syria.

In addition to the Turkish attacks, the siege was also a weapon used by some against our people. After the development of the conflict in Syria, the regions of North and East Syria maintained relative security stability, which led to displacement from other governorates towards the DAA regions. After the elimination of the Islamic State (ISIS), the DAA liberated areas expanded, and the burden increased in the camps, which are hosting tens of thousands of displaced people, exceeding the camps capacity.”

The DAA statement also pointed out that the regions of North and East Syria suffer from a difficult humanitarian situation in all respects, especially after the recent Turkish attacks on the region and its restriction of the flow of the Euphrates River into Syria that provides some five million people in DAA areas with water and electricity.

The Yarubiyah Border Crossing is an essential lifeline in North and East Syria. The decision to close it on 8 June 2020 because of vetoes by Russia and China in the U.N. Security Council, has led to the steady deterioration of living conditions in the region, have exacerbated an already bad healthcare crisis with the coronavirus pandemic, and threaten the gains made by the gains made against the Islamic State.

The DAA statement appealed to the international community and the United Nations to separate the humanitarian situation from the political interests of some countries and open the border crossings to humanitarian aid.