The International Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in Syria: A Socio Legal Critique

Abstract This article examines the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria from a socio-legal perspective. Some UN agencies were accused of contravening their humanitarian principles by being overly deferential to the Syrian government. Yet, they operated in a very difficult environment. The Assad regime exploited the sovereignty principle under international law to dominate the humanitarian response so as to reinforce its resilience. Power realities rendered the ideal of maintaining humanitarian operations separate from politics impossible to achieve. However, even accounting for legal and operational challenges, there were significant shortcomings. Donors, UN agencies and international ngo s failed to maximise their leverage by negotiating collectively on access. Some remote management mechanisms exposed Syrian partners to disproportionate risks. This article argues that a comprehensive knowledge of the local and geopolitical context, and a more unified approach, would have helped humanitarian organisations to more effectively identify and mitigate relevant risks from the outset. It finds that donors may have been reluctant to fully and publicly grapple with the problematic aspects of the humanitarian response because aid served as a substitute for the international community’s failure to progress a political solution. It identifies challenges, risks and opportunities for humanitarian operations in the post-Assad context.