First UN-authorised convoy enters Syria through Ramtha

AMMAN –– More aid convoys are expected to cross into Syria through Jordan’s northern city of Ramtha in the coming days after the first UN-authorised convoy entered the neighbouring country on Wednesday, a government official said Thursday. 

Ramtha Governor Bader Al Qadi told The Jordan Times over the phone that 10 trucks laden with relief supplies, food and home appliances crossed the border city on Wednesday, and another aid convoy is expected to enter Syria in the middle of this month. 

The official said the aid was sent in coordination with the UN Refugee Agency as the UN will be in charge of distributing the aid to Syrians. 

On July 14, the Security Council voted in favour of authorising cross-border convoys of emergency aid for millions of Syrian civilians in rebel-held areas, without prior approval by the Syrian regime.

According to the resolution, humanitarian convoys can pass through Ramtha in Jordan, the Bab Al Salam and Hawa border crossings in Turkey and Al Yarubiya crossing in Iraq. 

The UN estimates that at least 10.8 million people inside Syria are in urgent need of assistance, nearly half of them are in communities that are difficult for humanitarian agencies to reach.  

The resolution, which was drafted by Jordan, Australia and Luxembourg, aims at getting aid through the four specified border crossings to nearly 3 million people who have not had secure food supplies or access to basic healthcare for many months, according to the UN.

The Bashar Assad regime had insisted that all international aid be channelled through Damascus.

Syrians in Ramtha

Qadi said the influx of Syrians into Ramtha, some 90km north of Amman, has almost doubled the population of the city, noting that 45 per cent of the current residents are Syrians. 

The population of Ramtha is estimated at 80,000, while are around 70,000 Syrians have sought refuge in the city, he added. 

This rise in population has placed additional burdens on government agencies there in terms of infrastructure, water, education and health, according to Qadi.  

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, Ramtha Mayor Ibrahim Saqqar said the city had been the most affected by the over three-year Syrian crisis, as nearly 15,000 residents, a majority of them drivers who used to transport passengers and goods to and from Syria, are jobless. 

Merchants in the city also used to trade goods with their Syrian counterparts just across the border.