International Lawyers and Legal Experts Write Open Letter to the United Nations on Humanitarian Aid in Syria (April 28, 2014) [1]
On April 28, 2014, thirty-five international lawyers and legal experts signed an open letter [3] to the U.N. on humanitarian aid to Syria. The letter states “that there is no legal barrier to the UN directly undertaking cross-border humanitarian operations and supporting NGOs to undertake them as well.” The letter also maintains that, despite Security Council Resolution 2139 (2014) [4], demanding humanitarian access across conflict lines and borders, Syria’s government has refused consent to cross-border aid, “causing millions to suffer.” According to a news article [5], on April 29, 2014, the U.N. “rejected calls for it to deliver humanitarian aid across borders into Syria without the approval of the government in Damascus, saying such operations would be possible only under a stronger U.N. Security Council Resolution.”