Formalising aid to the Syrians

With no end in sight for the war in southern Syria, the number of the Syrian civilians fleeing the armed conflict can only increase with time.

It is now projected by UN agencies that the number of Syrians advancing towards the Jordanian border can reach hundreds of thousands in a matter of days, even if a truce is agreed upon by warring parties.

Aid and support to these fleeing Syrians, advancing ever closer to the Jordanian border, can no longer be sustained by appeals or sporadic donation from here and there. The challenge is bound to get much larger for improvised assistance packages.

There is no escape from the conclusion that the UN Security Council (UNSC) should meet in an emergency session to industrialise and formalise the humanitarian aid to the Syrians. Jordan should spearhead this call since it is taking on the brunt of the burden already.

No nation would oppose such an emergency meeting by the UNSC and no member of the council would be expected to oppose the adoption of the necessary resolution calling for an organised, binding and institutionalised programme of aid to the Syrians. And it is no longer just food and water that the stranded Syrian people need. Medical services and schooling would soon become basic necessities for sustaining the Syrian civilians.

No country, especially Jordan, can on its own assume this heavy burden. The projected resolution must be effective, comprehensive and binding on the international community at large, beginning with the permanent members of the UNSC. Anything short of this would be just makeshift action that would not be enough to face up to the challenge.