Aid Group Issues Urgent Appeal for Quake-Hit Syria

Local NGOs set up tents to provide shelter and food for people who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (AP)
Local NGOs set up tents to provide shelter and food for people who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (AP)
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Aid Group Issues Urgent Appeal for Quake-Hit Syria

Local NGOs set up tents to provide shelter and food for people who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (AP)
Local NGOs set up tents to provide shelter and food for people who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (AP)

The group Doctors Without Borders called Sunday for the "urgent scaling up" of earthquake aid to northwest Syria as it delivered a convoy laden with emergency assistance.

Aid has been slow to reach Syria's rebel-held areas since the February 6 quake killed a combined total of more than 43,000 people across Türkiye and Syria.

"An urgent increase in the volume of supplies is needed to match the scale of the humanitarian crisis," said the French aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

It charged that supplies "currently fail to even match pre-earthquake volumes".

"Aid is trickling in in negligible amounts for the moment," said Hakim Khaldi, MSF's head of mission in Syria. "We emptied our emergency stocks in three days."

"According to UN data, five days after the earthquake, only 10 trucks had entered" opposition-held areas of Syria through the Bab al-Hawa crossing from Türkiye, MSF said.

It added that "in the 10 days following the earthquake, the number of trucks that crossed the border into northwest Syria was lower than the average weekly number for 2022".

A convoy of 14 trucks laden with 1,269 tents and winter kits sent by MSF had arrived in Syria through the Al-Hammam crossing in the Afrin area on Sunday.

"The delivery was arranged outside of the United Nations cross-border humanitarian mechanism," the group said.

Activists and emergency teams in Syria's northwest have decried a slow UN response to the quake in opposition-held areas, contrasting it with the planeloads of aid that have been delivered to government-controlled airports.

Before the quake struck, almost all of the crucial humanitarian aid for the more than four million people living in opposition-controlled areas was being delivered through just one crossing, Bab al-Hawa.

The UN announced on Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had agreed to open two more border crossings from Türkiye to northwest Syria to allow in aid.

Since the quake, the UN has sent more than 170 aid trucks to northwest Syria.

The conflict in Syria started in 2011 with the Damascus regime’s brutal repression of peaceful protests and escalated to pull in foreign powers and global extremists.

Nearly half a million people have been killed, and the conflict has forced around half of the country's pre-war population from their homes.



Arab League Plans ‘Exploratory Visit’ to New Syria

The Arab League headquarters in Cairo. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Arab League headquarters in Cairo. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Arab League Plans ‘Exploratory Visit’ to New Syria

The Arab League headquarters in Cairo. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Arab League headquarters in Cairo. Asharq Al-Awsat

Amid ongoing diplomatic efforts and growing Arab engagement with Syria’s new administration, the Arab League is planning to send a special envoy to Damascus.

The mission will aim to “assess the situation, meet with the new government, and engage with various groups in the country,” according to an Arab diplomatic source.

The source, speaking anonymously to Asharq Al-Awsat, explained that, in light of recent developments, “there is a push within the Arab League to send a special envoy to Syria.”

“The goal is to establish communication with the new authorities, understand their vision, and inform them about the Arab League’s operations and its relationship with Syria,” they added.

Although the timing and nature of the visit have not yet been decided, the source emphasized that it would not be limited to meeting Syria’s new leaders but would also involve discussions with different social groups.

“The visit is exploratory and aims to open communication channels and show the Arab League’s readiness to work with the new administration,” the source added.

One key objective of the visit is to offer an honest assessment of the situation in Syria and present the new administration’s views to other Arab nations, especially in North Africa.

On May 7, 2023, the Arab League reinstated Syria’s membership, reversing a suspension that began in November 2011 after the country’s protests. This decision formed a contact group of six Arab countries to work directly with Syria on a comprehensive solution to the crisis.

The diplomatic source pointed out that with Bashar al-Assad’s regime fallen, the goal of the Syria-focused group has shifted to helping Syrians adapt to the new political reality.

The Arab League’s planned visit comes as Syria sees increasing Arab attention. This includes a recent visit to Riyadh by Syria’s new Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, marking his first foreign trip. The visit coincided with the arrival of Saudi humanitarian aid to Syria. The UAE, Kuwait, and Oman have also held talks with Syrian officials.

Egypt, while cautious about closer ties with Syria, has emphasized that Syria should be a source of regional stability. Egypt has been monitoring the new administration's actions closely.

Observers note a growing “Arab openness” to Syria, driven by fears of Syria’s fragmentation and concerns over security issues, including terrorism.

The Arab League’s engagement reflects a shared interest in Syria's future, with a focus on stability, reconstruction, and political transition.