UN humanitarian aid comes to Syria for another year: Predictable and Unexpected Compromise

The policy brief examines the 2021 UN Security Council agreement to keep the Bab al-Hawa border crossing open for humanitarian aid to Syria. It argues that Russia's support for the resolution, despite its preference for aid to flow through Damascus, was driven by a need to prevent the economic collapse of the al-Assad regime. The author highlights the role of a bilateral US-Russia deal and the diplomatic efforts of Ireland and Norway in securing the compromise. The brief also notes that while external stakeholders find the current fragile state of Syria acceptable, the lack of funding for reconstruction and regional instabilities—including COVID-19 and shifts in Iranian and US engagement—threaten long-term stability.

• UN Security Council Resolution 2585, adopted on 9 July 2021, authorizes the use of only one border crossing, Bab al-Hawa, for 12 months to deliver aid into the Idlib province, while three other crossings (Bab al-Salman, al-Ramtha, and al-Yaroubiyah) remain closed.
• The compromise to keep Bab al-Hawa open was the result of a bilateral deal between the US and Russia, with the diplomatic drafting and preparation handled by Ireland and Norway.
• Russia's decision to support cross-border aid, despite its official stance that such deliveries violate Syrian sovereignty, is motivated by the belief that international aid is essential to prevent the economic collapse and ensure the stability of the al-Assad regime.
• The stability of the al-Assad regime is currently undermined by an inability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of resources for economic reconstruction, as external sponsors like Russia and Iran cannot provide sufficient funds and China is reluctant to engage.
• The US has provided a total of $US 13.5 billion in aid to Syria since the start of the war, with the Biden administration placing a strong emphasis on the urgency of humanitarian problems.
• Regional dynamics affecting Syria include Iran's declining engagement due to domestic problems and COVID-19, the state failure in Lebanon following the August 2020 Beirut explosion, and the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza.

APA

Baev, P. K. (2021). UN humanitarian aid comes to Syria for another year: Predictable and Unexpected Compromise. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2c6fcd2e-acd2-48ff-9677-94e5ff70604e/Baev - Predictable and Unexpected Compromise UN Humanitarian Aid Comes to Syria for Another Year MidEast Policy Brief 2-2021.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Baev, Pavel K. UN humanitarian aid comes to Syria for another year: Predictable and Unexpected Compromise. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2021. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2c6fcd2e-acd2-48ff-9677-94e5ff70604e/Baev - Predictable and Unexpected Compromise UN Humanitarian Aid Comes to Syria for Another Year MidEast Policy Brief 2-2021.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Baev |first1=Pavel K. |title=UN humanitarian aid comes to Syria for another year: Predictable and Unexpected Compromise |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=February 2021 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2c6fcd2e-acd2-48ff-9677-94e5ff70604e/Baev - Predictable and Unexpected Compromise UN Humanitarian Aid Comes to Syria for Another Year MidEast Policy Brief 2-2021.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{baev2021humanitarian, author = {Baev, Pavel K.}, title = {{UN humanitarian aid comes to Syria for another year: Predictable and Unexpected Compromise}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2021}, month = feb, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/2c6fcd2e-acd2-48ff-9677-94e5ff70604e/Baev - Predictable and Unexpected Compromise UN Humanitarian Aid Comes to Syria for Another Year MidEast Policy Brief 2-2021.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }