Facilitation of Cross Border Operations and Logistics Support for the Humanitarian Actors Operating from Turkey to Syria The Turkish Red Crescent has been actively in the field ever since the beginning of the conflict in Syria. TRC actively implied in the delivery of crucial humanitarian relief supplies to those affected. As a result of humanitarian aid, the ‘Syria Crisis Humanitarian Relief Operations’ of the TRC has been launched in April 2011. Since 2012 the TRC has been providing facilitation services for the Cross-Border delivery of humanitarian relief supplies. Facilitation services that TRC providing for partner humanitarian organizations include but are not limited to enabling import and export with waivers, enabling the use of additional humanitarian aid border crossings, assisting humanitarian organizations in the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies into Syria, fast-tracking at the border crossings, coordination of cross-border shipments to avoid prolonged waiting times at the border crossings as well as to maintain a comprehensive record for the humanitarian relief supplies that have been delivered. 

Moreover, the TRC maintains a close dialogue with both humanitarian relief partners as well as Turkish authorities in order to ensure that rules and regulations regarding customs formalities, cross-border delivery of humanitarian relief supplies as well as VAT exemption applications of NGOs are undertaken in accordance with required steps. 

TRC’s border relief services are important for the Cross-Border response of the humanitarian community because of its capacity to undertake these services through humanitarian border crossing points. In the event of any closures of commercial border crossing points from Turkey into Syria, the TRC is thus able to ensure that the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies into Syria continues through humanitarian channels. 

From 2012 up until the present day, the sectoral breakdown of the humanitarian relief supplies delivered to beneficiaries is as follows 38 % food items, 36 % NFI, 16 % Health, 4 % WASH and 4 % Shelter. The time period encompassing UN OCHA support for the project entails a sectoral breakdown of 37 % food items, 38 % NFI, 17 % Health, 4 % WASH, 3 % Shelter and other associated humanitarian relief materials at 1 %.

Since the beginning of TRC’s facilitation activities in 2012, a total of 55,559 trucks of humanitarian relief supplies have been facilitated. As a part of its humanitarian relief operations, the TRC coordinates its activities for the Cross-Border response from its ‘Syria Humanitarian Relief Operations Coordination Center’ located in Gaziantep. In addition, the TRC has cross-border facilitation activities in Gaziantep, Kilis, Hatay, Şanlıurfa and Mardin in order to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies through 14 Border Relief Points. The Syria Humanitarian Relief Operations of the TRC utilizes 91 staff members. This project is crucial in ensuring that the total amount of humanitarian assistance facilitated to date by the TRC, which has reached in excess of 1.11 Billion USD, continues to increase. In this way, humanitarian organizations will be encouraged to use humanitarian channels when delivering assistance to beneficiaries in Syria. These services enable the keeping of a comprehensive record by the TRC in regards to the type and amount of humanitarian relief supplies delivered. These records are kept under a strictly confidential status by the TRC thus ensuring the privacy of the relevant humanitarian organization. Data regarding the total amount of humanitarian relief supplies delivered are used as a guide to filling existing gaps in the delivery of the humanitarian relief supplies.