Foreign Policy: Bowing to Russia, U.N. Halts Funding for Pandemic Relief in Northeastern Syria
“Facing pressure from Russia, the chief ally to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.N. relief agencies have been instructed to stop funding programs by private charities transporting lifesaving health services across the Iraqi border to northeastern Syria, dealing a blow to international efforts to respond to the coronavirus pandemic in opposition-controlled territory, according to diplomatic and relief sources and confidential U.N. guidance. … The funding freeze comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) and other U.N. relief agencies have raised concerns that they lack sufficient access rights to respond to the health needs of some 2 million people in the region…” (Lynch, 5/13).