"It is catastrophic, and the United Nations is complicit"

Despite contacting US, UN and EU officials, the response was too little, too late, says Head of Syrian Civil Defence Raed Saleh

Getty Images

People stand among the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, on February 9, 2023, three days after a 7,8-magnitude earthquake struck southeast Turkey.

"It is catastrophic, and the United Nations is complicit"

Al Majalla - London

last update on 09 Feb 2023

The head of the Syrian Civil Defence Organisation, Raed Salah, said that the situation in northwestern Syria is "catastrophic" and accused the United Nations of "failing” going as far to call it “complicit" in its slow response to help rescue those trapped under the rubble after the earthquake that struck northern Syria and southeastern Turkey.

Saleh called for the provision of tools to "recover the corpses and refrigerators to preserve the bodies."

"The situation is catastrophic," Saleh told Al Majalla in a phone call from Sarmada in rural Idlib.

"The United Nations was late in sending aid, and even the aid that was scheduled to be sent stopped after the earthquake."

"This means that the United Nations is complicit," he said.

AFP — A child's toy lies amidst the rubble of a home destroyed in a deadly earthquake in the town of Jandaris, in Syria's rebel-held part of Aleppo province on February 9, 2023.

He added: "They claimed to have reached 5 per cent of the areas. This is a lie. They have only reached two out of 300 sites damaged by the earthquake."

On Thursday, the death toll from the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria this week exceeded 17,000. Hopes of finding survivors fade 72 hours after the disaster. The slow delivery of aid has aggravated frustration. On Friday, the death toll exceeded 23,000

“The United Nations is negligent. It claims that the crossings are closed while they are open," Saleh said.

Under a UN resolution, international humanitarian aid is permitted to be delivered in two ways: through the Bab al-Hawa crossing between Idlib and Turkey, while Damascus is required to send help "across the contact lines" between government and opposition areas.

Making it difficult

As Damascus and Moscow insisted that the aid reaches Damascus before sending it to the opposition-controlled areas, Western countries are hesitant to dispatch experts to help the Syrians.

The United States also refrained from sending equipment from northeastern Syria to its northwest, the site of the earthquake.

On Thursday, the first United Nations convoy crossed into Syria from Turkey carrying humanitarian aid for the Syrian victims of the earthquake.

Trucks loaded with aid, including packages and blankets, entered the Bab al-Hawa crossing into the city of Idlib in a region of northwestern Syria where some four million people live.

These people were already dependent on humanitarian aid before Monday's quake. Many of them have been displaced by the country's 12-year conflict.

During the war, the Syrian Civil Defence (also known as the White Helmets) played a vital role in rescuing civilians hit by bombing in different areas in Syria — especially in the northwest.

They are now working day and night recovering those trapped under the rubble and helping the wounded and the homeless.

Saleh said that he contacted US, European, and UN officials, asking for urgent aid to rescue people from under the rubble, "but unfortunately, they were too late."

"They promised they would send aid, but it did not arrive."

The Civil Defence workers have rescued many trapped people, including one saved at dawn yesterday.

But Saleh says, “now the focus is on recovering the bodies. So far, there have been 1,900 deaths and 2,900 wounded. We transfer the bodies to hospitals so that their families — if they were alive — can identify them."

Now the focus is on recovering the bodies. So far, there have been 1,900 deaths and 2,900 wounded. We transfer the bodies to hospitals so that their families — if they were alive — can identify them. Those who are not identified are put in refrigerators.

Raed Saleh, Head of Syrian Civil Defence

"Those who are not identified are put in refrigerators," according to Saleh.

AFP — People gather around graves where victims of a deadly earthquake are buried in the town of Jandaris, in Syria's rebel-held part of Aleppo province on February 9, 2023.

When asked about the difference in responding to bombings and what is happening now following the earthquake, Saleh says: "Bombing takes place in a specific area, so rescuers have to be quick before the second bombing occurs."

"The earthquake destroyed entire neighbourhoods and villages. Thus, the most important thing is to be focused, as saving people and lives requires focus and effort."

When asked what is most needed now, he replied: "We need fuel to operate the mechanisms, drilling machines, power generators, tools for removing ceilings and walls, iron scissors. We need tools to reach the bodies buried under the rubble and refrigerators to keep the bodies in them."

We need fuel to operate the mechanisms, drilling machines, power generators, tools for removing ceilings and walls, iron scissors. We need tools to reach the bodies buried under the rubble and refrigerators to keep the bodies in them.

Raed Saleh, Head of Syrian Civil Defence

On the ground, many in Turkey and Syria spent the night outdoors or in cars in freezing winter temperatures after their homes were destroyed or so shaken by the tremors that they were too afraid to return.

Hundreds of thousands were left homeless in the bitter cold of winter.

The quake, which occurred in the dead of night, followed by powerful aftershocks, is on track to be worse than a similarly powerful quake in 1999 that killed more than 17,000 people in Turkey's more populous northwest.

The conflict that has divided Syria and destroyed its infrastructure has complicated relief efforts.

AFP — Rescue workers sent by Bern to Turkey have pulled earthquake victims out alive, the government said February 9, 2023.

"There are many people under the rubble, and there is no heavy equipment to pull them out. The volunteer teams are unable to work with light equipment," Yousef al-Nahhas, a resident of Salqin in northwestern Syria, said in a telephone interview with Agence France-Presse.

The United Nations Resident and Aid Coordinator for Syria, Mostafa Benlemlih, said that 10.9 million people were affected by the disaster in the northwestern governorates of Hama, Latakia, Idlib, Aleppo, and Tartous.

Turkish officials say some 13.5 million people have been affected in an area stretching approximately 450 km, from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east.
In Syria, people died in areas as far south as Hama, 250 km from the epicenter.

+ / -