Syria

Two Oxfam aid workers were today killed in an attack at 2 pm local time in Dar’a governorate in southern Syria, between Nawa and Al-Yadudah.

Wissam Hazim, Southern Hub Staff Safety Officer, and Adel Al-Halabi, a driver, were both killed when their vehicle was attacked by a so-far unidentified armed group.  An Oxfam volunteer was also injured.

Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) today called on the government of Syria to facilitate the approval of aid delivery, while also calling on international donors to engage with government ministries to improve access and provide flexible funding for the overall aid response to crisis-affected families in Syria.

“While we welcome the renewal of the resolution to allow cross-border aid, we are very concerned that the reduced crossing will limit the provision of clean water, food, shelter and healthcare on which millions of Syrians rely," said Oxfam in Syria’s Country Director Moutaz Adham in response to news that the UN Security Council’s resolution allowing cross-border aid into Syria was renewed but modified.

“As discussions and debating continues in New York for allowing aid into Syria, millions of Syrians who rely on this aid for clean water, food, shelter and healthcare, and who face the increasing threat of COVID-19, lie in the brink," said Oxfam in Syria’s Country Director Moutaz Adham in response to the results of three votes for allowing cross-border aid into Syria which have failed to extend the mandate of the cross border beyond Friday 10 July.

As many as 12,000 people could die per day by the end of the year as a result of hunger linked to COVID-19, potentially more than could die from the disease, warned Oxfam in a new briefing published today. The global observed daily mortality rate for COVID-19 reached its highest recorded point in April 2020 at just over 10,000 deaths per day.

“The failure to come to an agreement on the renewal of cross-border aid is a devastating blow to the millions of Syrian families who rely on this aid for clean water, food, health care and shelter," said Oxfam in Syria’s Country Director Moutaz Adham in response to the results of two votes on renewing the UN Security Council’s resolution allowing cross-border aid into Syria which have failed to extend the mandate beyond Friday 10 July.

In reaction to the Security Council passing its Coronavirus Ceasefire Resolution, Oxfam’s Head of Humanitarian Campaigns and Advocacy, Fionna Smyth, said: “The UN Security Council’s unanimous vote to support the UN Secretary Generals call for a global ceasefire and to help fight COVID-19 is welcome —and is long overdue."

Syrians who have already endured almost a decade of war and displacement are now facing unprecedented levels of hunger leaving millions of people acutely vulnerable to Covid-19, international agencies warned today ahead of a key annual conference on the crisis.

As the Syrian crisis enters its tenth year, four million Syrians in Idlib and northern Aleppo continue to suffer, simply awaiting the worst to happen, says Oxfam.  Many displaced Syrian across borders tell Oxfam how their lives have been disrupted and destroyed.

In reaction to recent developments at the UN Security Council regarding the cross-border resolution for Syria, Oxfam said:

“The UN Security Council failure to renew the cross-border resolution puts the lives of millions of Syrians at risk.  Families in great need, many of whom have been forced to flee multiple times during the crisis, rely on the aid provided by UN cross-border operations. Without the resolution renewal, there is no realistic way of reaching hundreds of thousands of these families caught in fire, which risks leaving them abandoned at a time of great need.  Members of the Security Council must urgently return to discussions and ensure that all people in need across Syria can get humanitarian assistance in the most effective way possible.”