Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to commence aid drops in Syria.

The UK continues to press for sustained humanitarian access to all besieged and hard to reach areas in Syria. We are a core member of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), which demanded in May that the Asad regime allow land access to all besieged areas from 1 June, or the international community would call on the World Food Programme (WFP) to carry out humanitarian airdrops to those areas. This was only necessary because the regime has consistently failed to live up to its commitments under International Humanitarian Law to ensure free, unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies.

As a result, June saw improved levels of humanitarian access. Eight besieged locations were reached by road, including Darayya which received its first deliveries of food since 2012. However, seven remained unreached at the end of June. The regime has now agreed in principle road access to all 16 besieged areas requested by the UN in July. The ISSG is working with the UN to hold the regime to this commitment.

While delivering aid by road is the best approach to safely deliver the quantities needed and to ensure that it gets to those who need it most, if there is no improvement we must look to the WFP to carry out its plan for airdrops to reach those in need. The ISSG is united in its resolve to ensure full, sustained humanitarian access to the people of Syria.