The Guardian newspaper published an editorial calling for urgent aid to be delivered to those affected by the earthquake disaster in Syria . She said that a way must be sought through Turkey to help the forgotten in northern Syria.
She added that a week passed amidst tears, laments, and neglect, revealing the extent of the devastation left by the disaster, in which more than 35,000 people died in Turkey and Syria, making the recent disaster one of the worst natural disasters in more than a century. There are still hundreds of thousands of people stuck under the rubble, while their relatives pray for a miracle to get them out from under it. No one will ever know the total number of victims, at a time when millions have been displaced and communities wiped off the face of the earth.
It is not logical to leave the people affected by the disaster to their fate. And while Humanitarian Coordinator Martin Griffiths said on Sunday that they had “failed,” this is what allowed it to actually happen in northwest Syria, which is the area controlled by groups opposing the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and only small quantities have reached the Idlib region. Aid through the only open crossing from Turkey.
With increasing anger, Griffiths acknowledged the “failure” on the part of the United Nations, and he was sincere in his words, but he did not reflect the reality. The earthquake exacerbated the suffering of the people of a region living through the ravages of civil war. Airstrikes, extreme poverty, collapsing infrastructure, and cholera are all there, and there are no basic materials to deal with simple crises. The alternative to aid is a crisis of horrendous proportions, and in a region where bad players are at war, the question is how to negotiate a safe path.
The United States called on Assad to stop using aid as a weapon and to deliver international aid to opposition areas. Washington was correct in easing some sanctions to deliver maximum aid to the affected areas, and Europe must follow suit. Even if the government in Damascus complied, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls the area, refused aid coming from areas under regime control, according to some reports.
Realpolitik requires the opening of all closed border crossings with Turkey. But that is what Assad's backer in the Security Council, Russia, voted against. President Vladimir Putin argued that the reason for this move is to protect Syrian sovereignty, which will cause laughter in Kiev, after Moscow's invasion of its lands. And in the event that Moscow does not change its position that serves its interests, then the countries must search for legal ways to circumvent the situation. In light of Assad's brutal record, and without consensus, there are risks stemming from any move.
In the end, diplomacy and international pressure must play its role to break the deadlock and overcome divisions in order to alleviate human suffering. Disasters on such a basis call for a reminder of human values, solidarity, cooperation, and transcendence over traditional enmity. The West bears the responsibility of advancing this issue, as it abandoned Syria and made it out of thought and consideration. Among those awaiting help in Idlib are people who have been turned back by Europe, which has erected barbed wire and barriers at its borders to prevent their entry. Victims of dictatorship, extremism and catastrophe now need our belated support and will need more of it for years to come.