The Chargé d’Affaires on behalf of the Assad regime’s permanent delegation to the United Nations, Al-Hakam Dandy, said during a UN Security Council session: “The existence of the United Nations for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Turkish Gaziantep city represents a waste of resources at the expense of those who really deserve the assistance.”
Dandy’s statement came in the context of Assad regime’s continuous politicization of the file of humanitarian aid in order to control it and deprive million of people in northwest Syria of aid.
Dandy added that “Assad regime continues to coordinate and cooperate with OCHA office with the aim of improving the humanitarian situation as it has recently renewed the authorization for UN to use Bab al-Salam and al-Rai crossings for additional three months in order to deliver aid.”
Dandy claimed that “The return of Syrian refugees to their homeland constitutes a primary goal for the Damascus government, and the Syrian refugee returning to his homeland enjoys all rights and duties, like other Syrian citizens.”
The Syrian National Coalition had earlier said that “Connecting humanitarian aid delivery to those in need in northern Syria, with the approval of the Assad regime, affects the fate and lives of civilians in northern Syria,” adding, “It was Assad regime’s practices that led to their displacement, and many of them lived under siege, starvation, and bombing, in addition to other violations by the regime.”
