Quake toll in Syria highlights urgency of peace efforts
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Roshan Amiri
- . February 13, 2023
- . Update: February 14, 2023 10:25 pm
Recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have had prominent catastrophic effects in both countries. While the official death toll has already crossed 34,000, the numbers are expected to climb dramatically once all the missing have been accounted for.
Moreover, just like in every other earthquake, there will be many more casualties later as ailments proliferate, and medical and sanitation infrastructures take time to repair. These facts are particularly true in Syria’s rebel-held areas, where health services are already in a critical state and the central government does not account for the quake’s victims.
In Syria, the devastating effects of recent tremors have been compounded by the failure to end a civil war that will enter its 13th year next month. The internally displaced residents have been among the most affected by the war and now the quake as well, but among the least likely to get the urgently required humanitarian aid.
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Compared to neighbouring Turkey which has reportedly received aid from over a hundred countries and relief organisations, Syria has received much less as its government has largely been isolated by the international community.
Countries and humanitarian organisations still willing to help have had to deal with the government’s stringent restrictions on aid delivery, particularly to rebel-held areas in northern Syria, which have been the most affected quake-hit regions in the country.
Aid has been slow to reach these areas as the Syrian government currently allows foreign aid delivery only through the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing on the Syria-Turkey border. The first aid convoy made it through 72 hours after the earthquake, on Thursday. Numerous additional trucks waited for clearance from Syria to cross, compelling UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call on the country’s central government to open more passageways.
