10 Years Later, Millions of Syrian Refugees Displaced

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Thank you so much for joining us, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. You just visited the last corridor providing aid to Syrian refugees there. I know you’re in Turkey on this visit announcing that the U.S. will be giving $239 million in additional humanitarian resources. Can you tell us what you saw on the ground there?

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: What I saw was an extraordinarily effective humanitarian delivery program being managed by the United Nations, as well as NGOs, and supporting refugees both inside of Turkey and IDPs on the border. I had an opportunity to go very close to the border and look over the wall, where the refugees came right up to the wall. There are 1.2 million refugees on that border. And, literally, people were wall to wall. And what I heard was a sense of desperation by the refugees and the IDPs, but also by the humanitarian community, fearing that this last lifeline that they have available to them to provide food and assistance inside of Syria would be closed if the Security Council does not make the important decision to extend the resolution allowing this border to remain open. So, I have completed this mission with a commitment to go back to New York and convince my colleagues, including the Russians, of the importance of this border crossing remaining open, but also, as Secretary Blinken noted when he spoke to the Security Council in March, we need to reopen the two other border crossings that were closed last year. One border crossing is not enough to effectively provide the level of assistance that is required inside of Syria.

GOLODRYGA: And just to give our viewers a bit of history and a sense of what’s going on right now, Russia is threatening to veto a resolution to keep the corridor, that last remaining corridor where you visited, open. But, back in 2014, the Security Council had voted to establish four corridors there to help and provide assistance for refugees. China and Russia disputed that and pushed back, and thus we are last with one remaining here. Why is it that China, and now specifically Russia, want to close this last pathway to providing aid to millions of refugees?

THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Well, first, let me just say Russia has not indicated that they will veto the resolution. We’re still in the early stages of the negotiation for this resolution.