Devastating earthquake of February 6: a report points the finger at the inaction of Syria and the UN
The magnitude 7.8 quake, followed by another nine hours later of magnitude 7.6, killed nearly 6,000 people in Syria, authorities said.
© MAHMOUD HASSANO / Reuters
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Both the Syrian government and the United Nations have failed to come to the aid of Syrians after the devastating earthquake of February 6, denounced Monday the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
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It is a report against the Syrian regime but also the UN.
And yet it emanates from the United Nations: an international commission of inquiry on Syria denounces the response of Damascus as of the UN after
the earthquake of February 6th
.
“
While there have been many acts of heroism amid the suffering, we have also witnessed the utter failure of the government and the international community, including the United Nations, to quickly direct aid. to Syrians
," Commission President Paulo Pinheiro said in a statement issued on the occasion of the release of a new report.
“
They failed to get an agreement on an immediate pause in hostilities.
They have failed to facilitate the delivery of vital aid through all available channels
,” accuses the Commission.
Hold the Assad Regime and the UN to Account
Nearly 6,000 people lost their lives in Syria after the 7.8 magnitude quake followed by another nine hours later of magnitude 7.6.
And for days, international help was delayed.
A failure to help the Syrians, says this commission.
An observation shared by Lubna Kanawati.
This Syrian feminist activist fled Syria, and from France, she directs the association Women Now, for the defense of the rights of Syrian women, established in the disaster areas, in Idleb and in the suburbs of Aleppo.
Lubna Kanawati calls the Syrian government and the UN to account.
"
Even in areas that are controlled by the regime, we have seen how aid was stolen or how corruption regulated the distribution of aid,"
she said.
All these things that we now know well, twelve years after the start of the Syrian revolution.
But as far as the United Nations is concerned, I believe that we have lost hope in them.
With every crisis the Syrian people go through, UN officials tell us the same argument: that they need permission and they don't know what to do.
But they should know what to do!
So yes, I think we should hold the Assad regime and the United Nations accountable and hold them to account.
Because we have lost many families because of the lack of
»
►Also listen: Turkey: a power shaken by the earthquake
The earthquake has multiplied the challenge posed to humanitarian organizations to come to the aid of the Syrian population, particularly in the rebel area of Idleb, the country being hit by international sanctions and the access roads to the only border crossing point which was authorized by Damascus before the earthquake had themselves been damaged.
The United States and the European Union have since eased sanctions on Syria
,
while Damascus has agreed to allow the UN to open more border crossings to help deliver more aid.
The Commission accuses the Syrian government and national army of "
preventing cross-border aid to affected communities
" and the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Cham in northwestern Syria
of
"
denying cross-border aid from Damascus
”.
(
And with
AFP)
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