WHO chief says heading for Syria as aid reaches Syria rebel-held areas

WHO chief says heading for Syria as aid reaches Syria rebel-held areas
by AFP Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) Feb 9, 2023

World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday that he was heading to Syria which has been hit, along with neighbouring Turkey, by a massive earthquake which has left over 21,000 people dead.

"On my way to #Syria, where @WHO is supporting essential health care in the areas affected by the recent earthquake, building on our long-standing work across the country," the WHO chief tweeted.

At the same time, the United Nations announced that its Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Martin Griffiths would head this weekend to areas hit by the quake in both Turkey and Syria.

An aid convoy reached rebel-held northwestern Syria earlier Thursday, the first since the devastating earthquake, an official at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing told AFP.

The 7.8-magnitude quake early Monday has killed over 21,000 people in Turkey and war-ravaged Syria, according to officials and medics in the two countries, flattening entire neighbourhoods.

The WHO has warned of a secondary health crisis threatening to strike Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of the earthquake, which could be worse than the quake itself.

Tedros anticipated that the death toll would keep climbing, saying on Wednesday: "With the weather conditions and ongoing aftershocks, we're in a race against time to save lives."

"People need shelter, food, clean water and medical care, for injuries resulting from the earthquake, but also for other health needs."

First aid reaches Syria rebel-held areas since quake: border official
Bab Al-Hawa Border Crossing, Syrie (AFP) Feb 9, 2023 - An aid convoy reached rebel-held northwestern Syria Thursday, the first since a devastating earthquake that has killed thousands, an official at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing told AFP.

The 7.8-magnitude quake early Monday has killed nearly 20,000 people in Turkey and war-ravaged Syria, according to officials and medics in the two countries, flattening entire neighbourhoods.

"The first UN aid convoy entered today," said Mazen Alloush, media officer at the crossing.

An AFP correspondent saw six trucks passing through the crossing from Turkey, carrying tents and hygiene products.

Alloush noted the delivery had been expected before Monday's quake, but said: "It could be considered an initial response from the United Nations, and it should be followed, as we were promised, with bigger convoys to help our people."

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement the delivery includes blankets, mattresses, tents and "basic relief items... to cover the needs of at least 5,000 people".

"We are working very closely with authorities to support in any way we can and hope that aid will quickly reach those most impacted," said IOM head Antonio Vitorino.

But the White Helmets rescue group that operates in rebel-held areas said they were disappointed by the aid, which they said was part of "routine" deliveries.

"This is certainly not special aid and equipment for search and rescue teams," they said in a statement on Twitter.

"This makes us very disappointed at a time when we are desperate for such equipment to help us save lives from under the rubble."

- 'Race against time' -

The White Helmets had earlier appealed for international help in their "race against time".

The UK government on Thursday said it would provide "at least an additional �3 million (about $3.6 million) funding, bringing our total to �3.8m" to support the White Helmets.

"The funding will go to support recovery projects including assessing building safety, reopening roads and reconnecting utilities," it said in a statement.

The aid delivery mechanism from Turkey into rebel-held areas of Syria through the Bab al-Hawa crossing is the only way UN assistance can reach civilians without passing through areas controlled by Syrian government forces.

While the crossing itself was not affected by the quake, the road leading to it was damaged, temporarily disrupting operations, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.

UN special envoy Geir Pedersen said Thursday that the emergency response in Syria should "not be politicised" following "one of the most catastrophic earthquakes the region has seen in about a century".

He told reporters in Geneva that the UN had been "assured today that we would be able to get through the first assistance".

Planes carrying aid from the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Iran and other countries have landed since Monday in Syrian government-controlled airports in Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia.

Rescuers have been searching for survivors still trapped under rubble.

The UN's resident Syria coordinator El-Mostafa Benlamlih told AFP on Wednesday that no fresh deliveries of humanitarian aid had been sent to the rebel-held northwest from within Syria in about three weeks.

He said the UN has some stocks in the area -- enough to feed 100,000 people for one week.

Speaking from Damascus, Benlamlih said the destruction in government-held provinces "is huge".

"But we know also that the destruction in the northwest is huge and we need to get there to assess."