Jul 17, 2014

Who is controlling the Syrian border crossings?

The UN Security Council’s resolution to allow the entry of aid to Syria without the government’s permission raises many questions regarding the feasibility of its implementation, given that a number of border crossings are not under the Syrian state’s authority. Many are controlled by different factions, according to their region of control and ability to face the other armed militias in the region. There are many non-regime crossings which are considered as dangerous to cross as the other dangers in the conflict of this country.

A tour of the border crossings reveals the state of these areas and the parties controlling them.

In the south, Nasib crossing is considered the official main crossing to Jordan and is still under the Syrian state’s control. Jabhat al-Nusra tightened its grip on the Gumruk crossing, pushing Jordan to close it down and ask the members of the Free Syrian Army [FSA] in the Daraa countryside not to move toward Nasib crossing so that Jabhat al-Nusra does not take it over.

There are non-regime crossings in west Daraa [southern Syria], the main two being at Tell Chehab and Badiya in Suweida. The latter faces the Jordanian city of Ruwayshid, where the members of the Jordanian intelligence and armed groups are deployed to make it easier for refugees to pass, for weapons to enter and for the leaders of the FSA to move around. However, the Jordanian authorities have closed these crossings many times.