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Cross-border aid must reach Syria, with or without Russia’s approval.

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If Russia vetoes the cross-border aid mechanism, donors can establish a separate program via Turkey to circumvent the UN and ensure life-saving humanitarian aid makes it to the war-torn country.

Speaking in Geneva during a regular briefing, World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Tomson Phiri explained that 2.4 million people in Syria “depend entirely on cross-border assistance for their basic needs, including food. The majority of these people are women and children, many of whom have been displaced multiple times.”

Russia, nevertheless, remains to claim that cross-border aid to Syria must be cancelled, whereas the United States, Europe and Turkey accentuate the need to renew the UN Cross Border mechanism While the current discussion is about the renewal of the cross-border aid legislation for the Bab al Hawa crossing, it should also comprise of a re-opening of the Bab al Salamah border crossing as an additional entry point for aid.

More importantly, the international community must be ready with an alternative if the worst-case scenario happens. For civilians in Syria, cross-border aid is vital, and all diplomatic means must be used to ensure its continuation.

Deprived of an alternative, the humanitarian situation in Syria could spiral, and trigger a new wave of migration. Criminals within the Bashar al Assad regime would be rewarded for their behavior.

Russia’s argument that cross-line aid can replace cross-border aid is mistaken. Past experience shows that aid to opposition-held areas in Syria is unsustainable if they have to cross regime-held areas.

Since 2011, the deteriorating humanitarian situation has played an essential role in the regime’s strategy to achieve military victories and the regime has repeatedly exploited humanitarian aid — whether in Homs, Ghouta or other places.

The regime captured territories by literally starving the local population. Not long has passed since Syria’s religious leaders authorized Syrians to eat cats and dogs to survive. Knowing this, the international community cannot reward the regime with a monopoly over humanitarian aid.

Russia’s current position of strength is not only due to the veto power given to only five states in the UN Security Council. It also comes from the lack of any alternatives. Open communication of the establishment of an alternative alone would be enough to convince Russia to not use its veto right.

According to OCHA, the Cross-Border Mechanism has delivered 42,673 trucks of humanitarian aid from Turkey to Syria between June 2014 and April 2021. In November 2020 alone, the mechanism delivered 420 trucks of aid via the Bab al Hawa border crossing.

In the same month, the Turkish Red Crescent delivered 404 trucks of aid to Syria using multiple border crossings and Russia’s veto right. Furthermore, since August 2012, the Turkish Red Crescent delivered 53,421 trucks of aid.

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Russia says NATO preparing for potential conflict in Eastern Europe, Black Sea

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NATO’s activities in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region are focused on preparing its allies for a potential confrontation with Russia, said the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday, citing militarization activities in the region.

The Romanian authorities have previously announced their readiness to invest 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) into modernizing the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in Constanta County. The base is set to expand into a military town capable of accommodating the families of 10,000 military personnel, with plans to create urban infrastructure, said the ministry.

Construction has begun in the southern part of the future military town, where access roads and a robust power grid are currently being built. The modernization of the air base could make it the largest North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) base in Europe by 2040. The U.S. military has been using this base since 1999, it said.

“The expansion of the Romanian air base is yet another proof that the North Atlantic bloc continues its unrestrained militarization of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The ministry added that “the forced enhancement of coalition capabilities is also taking place in Poland and the Baltics.”

“Such activity by NATO members is provocative, exacerbates military tension along our borders and creates additional security threats to Russia. All this is aimed at preparing the bloc’s allies for a potential collision with our country,” the ministry said.

“We will monitor the developments in Romania, assess the emerging risks and take them into account during military planning,” the ministry added.

Source(s): CGTN

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Usable reserve will exceed USD 100 million by the end of this month: MMA

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Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman, on Thursday, revealed over 900 undocumented immigrants have been deported as part of efforts to decrease the number of foreigners living in the Maldives unlawfully.

Speaking at a joint press conference held by Local Governance Ministry, Home Ministry, Maldives Immigration and Department of National Registration on Thursday – Shamman said two to three major operations are conducted every week to identify undocumented immigrants.

“We are removing them based on the capacity available at the detention centre. After their removal – the deportation of such individuals from the Maldives is proceeding at a fast pace,” he said.

Speaking further, Shamman underscored that there is a large number of foreigners involved in black market sale of US dollars in the Maldives – which he detailed is carried out near ATMs and through Viber groups.

Seven foreigners unlawfully selling US dollars in the black market were detained on March 15th in an operation carried out by Immigration’s Risk Intelligence and Legal Affairs and Enforcement and Compliance Division.

Shamman noted that some of these detainees have been deported already. Underscoring that some of the detainees lacked the necessary documentation – he said the documents have been requested from the embassy.

“As soon as the documents are received, they will be deported,” he added.

Source(s): sun.mv

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Over 900 undocumented immigrants deported: Immigration Controller

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Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman, on Thursday, revealed over 900 undocumented immigrants have been deported as part of efforts to decrease the number of foreigners living in the Maldives unlawfully.

Speaking at a joint press conference held by Local Governance Ministry, Home Ministry, Maldives Immigration and Department of National Registration on Thursday – Shamman said two to three major operations are conducted every week to identify undocumented immigrants.

“We are removing them based on the capacity available at the detention centre. After their removal – the deportation of such individuals from the Maldives is proceeding at a fast pace,” he said.

Speaking further, Shamman underscored that there is a large number of foreigners involved in black market sale of US dollars in the Maldives – which he detailed is carried out near ATMs and through Viber groups.

Seven foreigners unlawfully selling US dollars in the black market were detained on March 15th in an operation carried out by Immigration’s Risk Intelligence and Legal Affairs and Enforcement and Compliance Division.

Shamman noted that some of these detainees have been deported already. Underscoring that some of the detainees lacked the necessary documentation – he said the documents have been requested from the embassy.

“As soon as the documents are received, they will be deported,” he added.

Source(s): sun.mv

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