Coronavirus: WHO accused of risking lives to ‘appease’ China and Russia after U-turn on north Syria aid appeal

UN health agency drops direct appeal to re-open vital aid crossing from Iraq into Kurdish-held northern Syria in Security Council memo. Bel Trew reports from Beirut on the backlash

A member of the Kurdish Internal Security Forces urges children to return home in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on Thursday 30 April (AFP/Getty)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has come under fire for “appeasing” governments rather than protecting lives in northern Syria during the coronavirus pandemic, after it removed a direct appeal to re-open a key aid crossing point from a memo to the UN Security Council.

The original communique stated that NGO partners wanted the 15-member body to urgently reopen the al-Yarubiyah crossing from Iraq to the mostly Kurdish-held northern part of the country.

For the past six years, the Security Council has authorised the delivery of aid through this vital entry point but dropped its approval in January in the face of opposition from the Syrian regime’s key ally Russia, backed by China.