Dramatic situation in Syria after the deadly earthquakes – “Under pressure” efforts for humanitarian aid

THE Monday’s earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria increases the challenges humanitarian organizations and Western countries face in providing aid to the Syrian people, especially in Idlib province controlled by rebels. Already since Monday the international community has mobilized for it Turkey, offering her emergency help. Countries like France, Germany and the USA they have also pledged to help the Syrians, but have not they immediately send help.

“Syria remains a legal and diplomatic dark zone,” observes Mark Sakal, head of the Syria program at the Doctors Without Borders (MSF), calling for aid to be sent to the country “as soon as possible”. Sakal fears that local and international non-governmental organizations will not be able to cope with the needs of a country torn apart here and there.i 12 years since civil war, with opposing rebels – some of whom are supported by foreign powers -, jihadists, Kurds and the government army of Bashar al-Assad. Help is even more critical as “The population situation is already dramatic“, comments Professor Raphael Pitti, executive of the French non-governmental organization Mehad, who is mainly concerned about Idlib province. One of the main problems is access to this last bastion of the rebels and jihadists, where 4.8 million people live, he notes.

The Damascus government, which has been under international sanctions since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, has been pressing the international community for help as the death toll from the earthquake continues to rise. The Syrian ambassador to UN assured yesterday Monday that this aid will go “to all Syrians throughout the territory”. However, he set a condition for this aid to pass through the areas of Syria controlled by Damascus, APE-MPE reports.

Smoothing;

“Access through Syria exists, it can be coordinated in cooperation with the government and we are ready to do it,” Faisal Mokdad said, ruling out the possibility of aid going through cross-border crossings. Pitti estimates that the areas controlled by Damascus are very likely to receive international aid, “as it has always been done for ten years”.

But the professor fears that the residents of Idlib, “which measures 2.8 million. refugees“, will be left to her own devices, mainly as the Turkey it must cope with the needs of its own residents in the affected areas. The most immediate help is expected to come from the United Arab Emirates, which pledged yesterday to provide $13.6 million in aid to Syria. It is an indication of “a kind of normalization at the level of the Arab League”, comments Emmanuel Dupuy. “What was obvious – Syria’s return to the Arab League from which it was expelled in 2011 – is a reality through humanitarian aid,” he adds.

In November the Arabs leaders met in Algiers where they underlined the need for “a joint and significant Arab role in efforts to end” the civil war in Syria. According to Dupuy, Syria may achieve “a comeback due to the fact that it was a victim” of this earthquake.