The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Syria to facilitate aid to victims of the earthquakes that devastated parts of the country and Turkey earlier this week.
There must also be “full respect for human rights and humanitarian law obligations for aid to reach everyone,” Volker Türk said in a post on social network Twitter.
“At this terrible time for Turkey and Syria, we call for urgent help to ALL people in need,” the High Commissioner said in the message.
In this terrible time #Turkey & #Syria, we call for urgent delivery of aid to ALL in need. UN human rights chief @volker_turk calls for an immediate ceasefire in Syria and full respect for #human rights & humanitarian law obligations so that aid can reach everyone. pic.twitter.com/l9MJEQixYg
– UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 10, 2023
The civil war in Syria since 2011 has hampered humanitarian aid to victims of the earthquakes recorded this week, mainly in rebel-controlled areas in the country’s northwest.
Most of the aid earmarked for that area has departed from Turkey, via Bab al-Hawa, the only permitted border crossing between that country and Syria, pending Damascus allowing international aid to the rebel areas.
On the other hand, the earthquake-induced damage to the road infrastructure on the Turkish side and the needs of the southeastern region of Turkey have made the delivery of supplies very difficult.
The two countries were hit by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the early hours of Monday, which was followed by several aftershocks, one of which measured 7.5.
The earthquakes have already claimed more than 21,000 deaths – about 19,400 in Turkey and 3,380 in Syria – but only this Friday did Syrian President Bashar al-Assad address the population publicly after visiting a hospital in Aleppo (northwest).
Authorities and rescue teams admit that the number of fatalities will continue to rise as debris is removed from the many collapsed buildings.
The World Health Organization said 23 million people are “potentially at risk, including about five million vulnerable people”.
Syria authorizes delivery of aid to rebel-held areas
The Syrian government will accept the delivery of international aid to rebel-held areas hit by the earthquakes on Monday, according to a statement from the official SANA news agency.
President Bashar al-Assad’s government has said humanitarian aid distribution will be “supervised by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent” with the help of the UN.
The decision was made public after Al-Assad this Friday visited a hospital in Aleppo (northwest), one of the regions hardest hit by the earthquakes, which killed 3,377 people in Syria, according to the most recent report.
A civil war has been raging in Syria since 2011.
The earthquakes had their epicenter in neighboring Turkey, where authorities have already counted 17,674 dead.
Source: DN
