JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, the
U.N. Security Council voted
unanimously to extend a crucial aid

operation for Syria one day
before it was set to close,
after a deal between the U.S.

and Russia. The White House
said that President Biden and
Vladimir Putin discussed it on a

phone call. But, as Nick Schifrin
reports, some humanitarian
groups say the deal doesn't

go far enough for the millions
of Syrians in desperate need.
NICK SCHIFRIN: For Syrian

children near the Turkish
border, the only way to survive
is to search through scraps.

Ten-year-old Mohammad Adi
begins every day at dawn. If he
finds enough pieces of steel,

he can eat. MOHAMMAD ADI, 10
Years Old (through translator):
I collect and sell steel I find

here, so that I can afford to
buy a loaf of bread. There's
no one that can afford to spend

money on us. We have to work, so
that we can spend what we earn
on ourselves. NICK SCHIFRIN:

The children live here in the
nearby Al-Amal camp. In Northwest
Syria, desperation is everywhere.

Thousands of Syrians who have
come here after fleeing their
homes say all they have left

is God and the United Nations.
For the weathered and the weak,
whose houses were destroyed

by airstrikes, this arid camp
is now home. Fahmy Al-Saud
says if the last humanitarian

aid crossing had closed,
everyone would have turned to the
trash not to trade steel, but

for food itself. FAHMY AL-SAUD,
Syria (through translator): If
they close the border, where

will people go? They will go
to the landfills. If they find
fruit scraps, they will eat them.

They will eat out of starvation,
that level of starvation.
NICK SCHIFRIN: In 2014, the

U.N. Security Council approved four border
crossings for humanitarian aid into Syria.

In January 2020, Russia used
a veto threat to close two
crossings. Seven months later,

under pressure from Russia and China, the
U.N. closed a third crossing, leaving only

one, Bab al-Hawa in the Northwest.
Today's agreement extends
the status quo for six months

with a six-month renewal that a
senior administration official
called virtually automatic. The U.N.

praised the deal. And U.S.
Ambassador to the U.N. Linda
Thomas-Greenfield said the unanimous

vote saved lives. LINDA
THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. Ambassador
to the United Nations: It's

a moment for millions of Syrians who will
not have to worry about starving to death

in the coming weeks. It's
important that the United States
and Russia were able to come

together on a humanitarian initiative that
serves the interests of the Syrian people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But humanitarian
aid groups say authorizing
a single aid crossing is not

enough to meet the vast need,
and they say Russia's blocking
another proposal that would

have reopened a second crossing
shows disregard for Syrian
lives. Today, Human Rights Watch

said Russia has successfully
blackmailed the international
community. Amnesty International

accused Russia of playing political games
with the lives and welfare of millions of

people. Idlib is the final
stronghold of the Syrian
opposition. Humanitarian workers in

Syria accuse Russia and the Syrian
government of using humanitarian
need for political gain.

SALEM AL ZOUBI, Humanitarian
Worker (through translator):
As aid workers, we demand the

international community
separate human rights work from
politics, and to avoid attaching

policy gains to the distribution
of humanitarian aid. NICK
SCHIFRIN: But Russia and the Syrian

government want the aid to pass
through government-controlled areas.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently

blamed Syria's humanitarian
crisis on the U.S. SERGEI
LAVROV, Russian Foreign Minister

(through translator): If
we're all worried about the
humanitarian problems of the Syrian

people, we need to look at the
full range of reasons, starting
with sanctions, the illegal

seizure of Syrian assets in
foreign banks, at the request
of Washington, a total robbery.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Eighty-five
percent of Idlib's four million
people depend on the Bab al-Hawa

crossing. And now it's also
COVID. This week, the World
Health Organization said the U.N.

is counting on the crossing to
deliver more than 50,000 vaccines.
Last weekend, aid organizations

demonstrated at the crossing
and accused the Russians of
killing them through bombing and

starvation. AISHA, Humanitarian
Worker (through translator): This
decision would subject people

to another form of killing, like
the bombardment we experience
every day from Russia and the

regime. NICK SCHIFRIN: Despite
today's agreement, that bombardment
is relentless. Last Saturday,

Syrian government artillery and
Russian airstrikes destroyed this
home and an office of the Syrian

humanitarian rescue group the
White Helmets. The airstrikes
killed at least eight civilians.

Most of them were children.
Just a mile from the border
crossing, Syrians' families fate

still rests on a vote from the
same country that bombs them.
For the "PBS NewsHour, " I'm

Nick Schifrin.