HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS

HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS

TOPIC: IR

Section: International Events

Context-

Concept-

What are humanitarian corridors?

• The United Nations considers humanitarian corridors to be one of several possible forms of a temporary pause of armed conflict.
• They are demilitarized zones, in a specific area and for a specific time — and both sides of an armed conflict agree to them.

What are they for?

• Via these corridors, either food and medical aid can be brought to areas of conflict, or civilians can be evacuated.
• The corridors are necessary when cities are under siege and the population is cut off from basic food supplies, electricity and water.
• In cases where a humanitarian catastrophe unfolds because the international law of war is being violated — for example through large-scale bombing of civilian targets — humanitarian corridors can provide crucial relief.

Who sets them up?

• In most cases, humanitarian corridors are negotiated by the United Nations.
• Sometimes they’re also set up by local groups.

Who gets access?

• Access to humanitarian corridors is determined by the parties to the conflict.
• They also determine the length of time, the area and which means of transport — trucks, buses or planes — are allowed to use the corridor.
• In rare cases, humanitarian corridors are only organized by one of the parties to the conflict. This happened with the American airlift after the Berlin blockade by the Soviet Union in 1948-1949.

Where else have they been used?

• 1938 to 1939, Jewish children were evacuated to the United Kingdom from areas under Nazi control.
• Humanitarian corridors were also created during the 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia and
• 2018 evacuation of Ghouta, Syria.