About a week after the devastating earthquake occurred in Syria and Turkey, voices are still rising, calling for aid to reach the earthquake-stricken people who have become homeless and lack all the simple necessities of life such as food and medicine, despite dozens of countries announcing sending aid to the victims, so where did the aid go?

Why did it not reach its destination?

In Syria, officials and influential people were accused of stealing the aid that should have reached the earthquake victims, especially in the northwest of the country, which is outside the control of the regime and which completely lacks all the necessary equipment to rescue those trapped under the rubble, and thousands of people displaced by the earthquake have become homeless and need medical assistance. and urgent humanity.

According to what was announced by several countries, most of them Arab, that a lot of aid reached the Syrian people through the airports of Damascus and Aleppo, which are under the control of the regime, and the Syrian government had pledged to deliver aid to all the affected areas, including those outside its control.

In its episode on (2/12/2023), the “Shabakat” program monitored a statement made by the Syrian Minister of Trade Amr Salem to a local radio station, in which he said, “No cases of aid theft were recorded. As for the received and widespread complaint of the mayor of the town of “Istamo” in Lattakia, patrols were sent Directly, it turned out that there are two mukhtars who are distributed, and each of them is distributed to his relatives, and the problem has been solved and the aid has been distributed fairly for all.”

This statement and the lack of aid sparked a storm of comments on social media platforms, including a tweet by the activist Majed, in which he said, "The best solution is for whoever wants help to go by himself and help those affected. This is how he guarantees that his help made a difference in the life of the affected, and God helps everyone."

As for Lorraine, she commented, "The aid is sold on the street, and no case of theft has been recorded. Congratulations to the blood merchants, a new opportunity to increase wealth."

In her turn, Suriana was surprised that some took advantage of this difficult humanitarian circumstance.

For his part, Ayman demanded accountability, so he wrote, "Those who stole the aid and delivered it to the market should be held accountable. Look who is in charge of the warehouses who stole the aid and sold it to the vendors."

However, Umm Hossam was not surprised by the theft of the aid of the victims of the earthquake, and she said, "I mean, what is new, from the beginning of the crisis and the aid those responsible for without exception have become millionaires.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, had acknowledged in a tweet that the international community had failed those living in northwestern Syria, and that the people there were right to feel that the international community had abandoned them, in light of the lack of aid.

bandits in Turkey

In Turkey, the aid for the earthquake victims was also not spared from theft and looting, but this time thieves and bandits took over the task, as Shabakat published a video showing an attempt by bandits to seize an aid truck that was loaded with tents for earthquake victims.

The thieves also took advantage of the weak security control in the ten affected Turkish states and increased their activities. A Turkish citizen documented in a video the looting of a store in the affected state of Hatay.

Activists reacted with anger and astonishment to these behaviors, so Israa Amin wrote, "They do not have an iota of honor. They did not even rise to the level of drug dealers who, despite their criminality, were keen to help people in times of crisis."

Ahmed Ramzi demanded that the thieves be held accountable, so he wrote, "These thieves must be held accountable according to a special law because they stole in abnormal circumstances. They took advantage of a humanitarian disaster, in which they should have supported the people and not stolen their aid."

However, activist Ahmed Kamal opposed this view and rejected the exceptional laws, and tweeted, "Of course, despite the atrocity of what they committed, they must be subject to legal procedures. They cannot be subjected to violations under the pretext of exceptional circumstances."

In turn, Farooj Khodri suggested that countries send supervisors of the aid they send.

For its part, the Turkish authorities announced that the security forces began to legalize access to the affected states, and were able to arrest some gangs.

According to the Turkish Minister of Justice, 134 people were arrested on suspicion of looting and theft in the affected areas.