CNN
—
Survivors of Monday’s earthquake in Turkey and Syria could face a “secondary disaster” as cold and snow lead to “worsening and frightening conditions,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday. rice field.
At a press conference in Geneva, WHO Incident Response Manager Robert Holden warned that “many people” were surviving “in the open, in deteriorating and terrifying conditions”.
“There is a huge disruption to basic water supplies, a huge disruption to fuel, electricity supplies, communications supplies and the basics of life,” Holden said.
“If we don’t move at the same pace and intensity that we do on the search and rescue side, there is a real danger of a secondary disaster that can hurt more people than the first.” added Holden.
The scale of this challenge is amplified by the fact that the affected regions of both Turkey and Syria are facing colder than normal years. For example, in the Syrian city of Aleppo, lows are forecast to range from -3°C to -2°C (27°F to 28°F) through the end of this week, while lows are typically 2.5°C in February. (36°F).
Years of conflict and a severe humanitarian crisis have also made it more difficult to assist survivors in Syria, where international aid has been slow to arrive. It took until Thursday for the first UN aid convoy to cross from Turkey to northwestern Syria.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), Thursday’s convoy, which consisted of six trucks carrying shelter supplies and non-food items (NFIs), crossed Bab al-Hawa, the only humanitarian aid corridor between Turkey. passed the intersection. and Syria.
“United Nations cross-border aid operations resumed today. We hope that this activity will continue as it is the only channel available and scalable,” said Sanjana Quazi, Head of OCHA Türkiye.
Thursday’s delivery ends a three-day period in which no aid arrived at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey to rebel-held areas in northern Syria. two countries.
“Is there a road that a vehicle carrying a corpse can pass through, but not relief supplies?” Mazen Aroush, a complaint spokesperson for Bab Al Hawa, asked CNN.
Immediately after the quake, the United Nations said roads to the intersection had been blocked, but as of Wednesday they were clear, raising questions about why it took so long for help to arrive.
A top aid official told CNN that efforts to help people in Syria’s earthquake-hit areas have been “incredibly difficult”.
“Besides, in Syria this is happening in the middle of a conflict zone,” said Jan Egeland, executive director of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The situation in Syria is very different from Turkey, where dozens of countries and international organizations are providing rescue teams, donations and aid.
Deliveries of emergency supplies to earthquake-hit areas in northern Syria have been complicated by a long-running civil war between the Syrian government and opposition forces led by President Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of killing his own people. It is
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad said any aid received must pass through the capital Damascus. “The Syrian state is ready to allow aid to enter all areas provided it does not reach terrorist armed groups,” he said.
That leaves rebel-controlled areas dependent on aid groups such as the United Nations.
Millions of people living in rebel-held areas of northern Syria were already suffering from extreme poverty and the effects of a cholera outbreak when the earthquake struck. increase.
CNN captures the moment Turkish residents are rescued from the rubble
Former merchant Abu Muhammad Sahoor volunteers as a nurse in the rebel-held city of Idlib, tending the wounds of earthquake victims and treating wounded discharged from overcrowded hospitals. doing.
“The situation is devastating in every sense,” he said. “We are healing our own wounds now.”
At the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, protesters held signs asking why only dead bodies were allowed through. , has been sent back to the homeland for burial.
Muhammad Monther Etaky of the Independent Doctor’s Association lives out of his car with his family in Gaziantep, Turkey, but keeps in close contact with his colleagues in Syria. He said hospitals there were overwhelmed with bodies and staff were waiting for family members to come and identify them.
But survivors face unique challenges every day as water supplies dwindle and disease threatens to spread. Mutters Adham, Oxfam’s Syria director, said residents were struggling to find food after the quake destroyed many bakeries.
“Syrians don’t know where their next meal is coming from. When we say meal, it’s neither vegetables nor meat, it’s simple bread,” he said.
Kieran Burns, the Syrian country representative for the Mercy Causes humanitarian group, said the isolated area had “no investment” in more than a decade. Tens of thousands of people live in temporary shelters with no access to water, he said.
“We are working in 98 camps to provide water because there is no water network. We bring water directly to people,” he said.
Médecins Sans Frontières spokesman Shawan Qassem said access to the region had been limited by restrictions on cross-border mechanisms. Agreed in a 2014 UN Security Council resolution Allow aid to pass through four locations on the Turkish-Syrian border.
From 2021, Russia and China have used their vetoes to reduce the number of trips from four to one (Bab Al Hawa). In January, less than a month after the quake, the UNSC unanimously decided to hold on to its reluctant vote. backed by China Russia, whose ambassador said it became possible Aid flows to Syrian enclaves “infested with terrorists”.
Mercy Corps’ Barnes said it’s important to keep intersections open.
“We don’t need politics. We don’t need ongoing gameplay. What we need is the international community to focus on keeping border crossings open,” Burns said. added. “Because now we are past the first phase of finding people, we are entering the humanitarian phase. We need to provide people with basic shelter, food and water.”
The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance before the earthquake was 15.3 million, but now that number needs to be revised, said El-Mostafa Benlamlih, UN Resident Coordinator for Syria. .
In Aleppo alone, 100,000 people are believed to be homeless, 30,000 of whom are currently sheltering in schools and mosques.
“They are the lucky ones,” he said.
The remaining 70,000 “snow, have colds and live in terrible conditions,” he added.
An aid worker distributing supplies to cities in northern Syria told CNN on Thursday that homeless people were sleeping in their cars in “very difficult” conditions.
“People still alive under the rubble may die from the cold,” said Mostafa Ed, country director of the US-based NGO MedGlobal.
Several countries have so far sent relief supplies to regime-controlled airports, including the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Russia. Other countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Canada have also pledged aid.
But the Syrian government says it needs more and wants the sanctions lifted against the country. Many Western countries have banned trade with Syria, including arms, equipment, petrochemicals and luxury goods.
China, a key ally of Syria, echoed Damascus’ pleas to lift sanctions and urged Washington to “put aside geopolitical obsessions.”
Here’s why the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria were so deadly.
“The United States has long been involved in the Syrian crisis,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said. It has become difficult to ensure the safety of people’s lives.”
But this cry for help is outraged among some of al-Assad’s critics.
“He is using the disaster as a ticket to lift sanctions,” said Omar Abu Layla, executive director of Deir Ezor24, a research organization that reports from Syria’s Deir al-Zur province. said. “If you want to get aid to Syria, you can. Time is of the essence. We are playing with life and death.”
Video: ‘We Can’t Save Them’: Survivors Struggle After Earthquake
Meanwhile, the United States has denied changing its position on the administration.
“It is deeply ironic, if not counterproductive, that we reach out to a government that has been brutalizing people for decades,” the State Department said. spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Monday.
“We have humanitarian partners on the ground who can provide assistance in the aftermath of these tragic earthquakes. I never have”
