A humanitarian corridor is a type of temporary

demilitarized zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...

intended to allow the safe transit of

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and v ...

in, and/or

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s out of a

crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

region. Such a corridor can also be associated with a

no-fly zone A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's te ...

or no-drive zone. Various types of "humanitarian corridors" have been proposed in the

Post–Cold War era The –Cold War era is a period of history that follows the end of the Cold War, which represents history after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. This period saw the United States became the world's sole superpower in the world and paved the way ...

, put forward either by one or more of the warring parties, or by the international community in the case of a

humanitarian intervention Humanitarian intervention is the use or threat of military force by a state (or states) across borders with the intent of ending severe and widespread human rights violations in a state which has not given permission for the use of force. Human ...

. Humanitarian corridors were used frequently during the Syrian Civil War.

United Nations Safe Areas

United Nations Safe Areas United Nations Safe Areas (UN Safe Areas) were humanitarian corridors established in 1993 in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War by several resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. On 16 April 1993, with t ...

(UN Safe Areas) were humanitarian corridors established in 1993 in the territory of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

by several resolutions of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, ...

List of proposed humanitarian corridors

Siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May 2022, as part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Militia) and the Ukrainian Armed Fo ...

March 2022, shut down twice by attacks *

* Lachin corridor * Battle of Grozny (1999–2000)#Siege * Cyclone Nargis#Activists respond to the blockade of aid * Humanitarian impact of the Russo-Georgian War * 2008 Nord-Kivu campaign#Humanitarian aid corridor * Gaza War (2008–2009)#Humanitarian ceasefires * First Libyan Civil War#Humanitarian situation * Safe Zone (Syria) * Timeline of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine#3 March

United Nations Safe Areas

List of proposed humanitarian corridors

References

Further reading