Earthquake in Syria: UN aid convoy carries out its first missions in rebel areas

A United Nations delegation including representatives of several UN agencies entered the rebel areas of northwestern Syria on Tuesday (February 14th) for the first time since the earthquake.

The aim is to assess the needs of these hard-hit regions.

© ©MAHMOUD HASSANO / REUTERS

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A United Nations delegation including representatives of several UN agencies entered the rebel areas of northwestern Syria on Tuesday, February 14 for the first time since the earthquake.

The aim is to assess the needs of these hard-hit regions.

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For the first time since 2020, a UN aid convoy made up of eleven trucks from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) entered the rebel areas of northern Syria on Tuesday through the border post of Bab al-Salam with Turkey, reports our regional correspondent

.

This cross-border post is one of

to international aid by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for an initial period of three months.

This aid is part of the emergency response following the February 6 earthquake, the epicenter of which was in Turkey and which killed more than 35,000 people, including more than 3,600 in Syria.

The trucks are carrying tents, mattresses, blankets and rugs, among others, IOM spokesman Paul Dillon told AFP.

Moments ago, additional aid made its way from @UNmigration teams in Gaziantep to Northwest #Syria through the newly opened border crossing point, Bab Al Salam.

We were also able to reach thousands of people in Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya and Mersin through our partners.

pic.twitter.com/NaDXors15r

— António Vitorino (@IOMchief) February 14, 2023

Until now, aid has only entered through the Bab al-Hawa border post linking Turkey to the Idlib region (northeast), held by jihadists and where more than three million people live.

This passage had been closed to UN humanitarian aid in 2020 under pressure from Russia, an ally of Damascus.

Mistrust

A UN humanitarian affairs official admitted on Tuesday at a press conference in a rebel-held town of Idleb that the aid provided to earthquake victims "is not enough

.

The slow delivery of aid is due to logistical problems and mistrust between the belligerents in the Syrian conflict.

The rebels have thus declined a proposal from Damascus to channel aid through areas controlled by the government.

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The UN mission aims to assess the situation in areas beyond Damascus' control in Idleb and north of Aleppo, as time is running out in these areas left to fend for themselves.

More than three million people live in these areas, which are among the most affected by the earthquake.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that hundreds of people are still buried under the rubble of many localities destroyed by the tremors and estimates that the death toll could climb to 7,000. 

(

AFP)

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• Syria

• Earthquake

• UN