Earthquake havoc compounds misfortune of Syrians left destitute by war

An Emirati search and rescue team searches through rubble in northwest Syria. (AFP)
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Updated 16 February 2023
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Earthquake havoc compounds misfortune of Syrians left destitute by war

  • Among the people most affected are 3 million internally displaced persons in the region bordering Turkiye
  • Political complications over sending aid to the northwest have adversely affected the humanitarian response

QAMISHLI, SYRIA: More than a week after twin earthquakes devastated parts of southeastern Turkiye and northwestern Syria, the death toll continues to rise by the hour. As of Tuesday, the total reported dead in the two countries stood at over 41,000, with tens of thousands more people injured.

Although the number of confirmed fatalities is lower in Syria — about 5,814 compared with 35,418 in Turkiye — more than a decade of civil war has left the country wholly unprepared to cope with a disaster of this magnitude.

An already dire situation in the northwest of the country, where a hodgepodge of rival regimes, opposition groups and terrorist factions have long battled for control, has escalated into a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe.

The Washington-based Middle East Institute estimates that up to 60 percent of the region’s infrastructure had already been damaged or destroyed prior to the February 6 earthquake, with medical facilities in particular devastated.

“Before the earthquake, most people were suffering from the humanitarian situation as a result of the destruction of most of the buildings and infrastructure due to the bombing of the Assad regime and its ally Russia, especially in the medical sector, and the lack of logistics and medicine,” Bashar Al-Fares, a journalist in northwestern Syria, told Arab News.

“Today, after the earthquakes that hit the northwestern regions of Syria, the situation has escalated. As a result of the destruction that occurred in the region, which was a shelter for refugees and forcibly displaced families from various Syrian governorates, thousands of people lost their lives in the earthquakes and many more were injured.




Saudi Arabia sent search and rescue teams to Syria and Turkiye. (SPA)

“This was compounded by the severe shortage of medical staff, medicines, and rescue equipment.”

Having been driven from their homes elsewhere in the country to escape bombardment, conscription, fighting and persecution, about 3 million people in the region of Syria bordering Turkiye are categorized as internally displaced.

Freezing winter temperatures, including heavy snowfall prior to the earthquakes, combined with an unprecedented cholera outbreak and the ongoing conflict in the country have left Syrians facing a litany of overlapping misfortunes with little outside assistance.

The cholera outbreak, which began in August, has so far affected more than 77,000 people across the country, almost 38,000 of them in Idlib and Aleppo governorates — the regions hardest hit by the earthquakes.

Adding to people’s misery, Syria’s currency collapsed late last year. The black-market exchange rate against the US dollar had already risen from 500 Syrian pounds in 2018 to 3,300 in 2021. By the end of last year, it had soared to more than 6,600.

The value of the pound has continued to plummet since the earthquakes, with the exchange rate reaching more than 7,400 pounds this week, further reducing the average family’s purchasing power.

Although the annual death toll in the country last year was the lowest since the start of the conflict more than a decade ago, the fighting continued between various factions in the regions destined to be devastated by the earthquakes.

As recently as Feb. 3, regime forces bombarded the outskirts of Al-Bara in rural Idlib with heavy artillery. Just two days before the earthquakes, clashes between Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a network of hardline Islamist groups, and regime forces in Latakia left dozens dead.

Afrin, one of the areas hit hardest by the disaster, has been in a state of chaos since Turkish forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army invaded the region in 2018, capturing it from the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).

Up until then, Afrin had been considered a relatively peaceful region throughout most of the conflict, and so hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people from other regions had settled there.

The violent upheaval in 2018 displaced the predominantly Kurdish population, with 300,000 fleeing to other parts of Syria and abroad, according to a 2018 report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

With their homes now destroyed by the earthquakes, the remaining Kurdish population might be forced to follow those who left and risk the perilous journey to find sanctuary elsewhere.

INNUMBERS

• 9m+ people affected by earthquakes in Hama, Latakia, Idlib, Aleppo and Tartus.

• 5,814 confirmed fatalities in Syria as of Tuesday.

• 90% of Syrians living below the poverty line.

According to the International Organization for Migration, almost 250 migrants were killed while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe last year. From 2021 to 2022, the number of Syrians attempting the risky sea crossing from Africa to Europe increased six-fold, according to EU border agency Frontex.

For those with no choice but to remain in Syria, the effects of the earthquakes and their aftermath simply add to their misery.

“The situation in Syria is terrible in every way,” Sardar Mullah Darwish, a Syrian Kurdish journalist and analyst, told Arab News. “These earthquakes are just the latest disaster of many. Many civilians will die and no one can help them.

“It’s very difficult to help them. Everyone should have come together and put their conflicts aside but, unfortunately, this hasn’t happened.”

Darwish said more than a decade of civil war essentially has divided Syria into three different countries: The areas controlled by the regime, the opposition and the AANES.

The destruction caused by the earthquakes encompasses areas within and beyond regime control, including Jinderis in Afrin, which is controlled by the opposition, and Aleppo and coastal cities controlled by Damascus.

“Now a major issue is that because Syria is divided politically, the regime only wants to bring aid for itself and the opposition only wants to bring aid for itself,” said Darwish.




“We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned,” said Martin Griffiths, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, emergency relief coordinator. (Supplied)

Political agendas surrounding the provision of aid to the Syrian people have further complicated the humanitarian response in an already vulnerable area.

The Bab Al-Hawa border crossing near Idlib on the border between Syria and Turkiye is the only approved crossing for the delivery of UN aid via Turkiye direct to people in Syria. The crossing was closed for three days as a result of damage it sustained during the earthquakes.

As a result, it was not until Thursday, Feb. 9, that six trucks from the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs, carrying shelter and non-food items, arrived in northwestern Syria.

On Monday, a week after the earthquakes struck, Syrian President Bashar Assad told the UN he would reopen two other crossing points, Bab Al-Salam and Al-Raee, for an initial period of three months to allow timely delivery of aid to the affected areas.

Largely isolated from the wider country, northwestern Syria was forced to fend almost entirely for itself in the days immediately following the disaster.

“All cities in Idlib governorate and the northern countryside of Aleppo have Civil Defense centers (the staff of which are better known internationally as the White Helmets) and they are always prepared for anything to happen,” said Darwish.

“However, the lack of heavy rescue equipment for all rescue teams was one of the biggest problems because what happened in northwestern Syria was a catastrophe that no country could handle.




The civil war, cholera outbreak and collapsing economy have forced thousands of Syrian refugees into neighboring Turkiye. (AFP)

“Until now, the Civil Defense and rescue teams are still continuing their work in searching for the victims and pulling them out from under the rubble.”

The broader aid response has been chaotic. Although the Assad government pledged to provide aid for all areas affected by the earthquake, including those it does not control, Al-Fares said that, to his knowledge, no regime-supplied deliveries had arrived in Idlib so far.

Hundreds of trucks carrying food, fuel, water and other essential supplies from the AANES were stuck in Manbij for several days. For political reasons, neither the opposition nor the regime was giving permission for the trucks to enter the city’s earthquake-stricken areas.

Asked whether the devastation could result in many more Syrians seeking refuge in neighboring countries, or beyond, Al-Fares said: “There are no clear and safe crossings for them if they intend to migrate to other, more stable countries.”

In other words, there is simply nowhere left for Syrians left destitute by one crisis after another to go.


Syria’s foreign minister to make first official visit to Moscow since Assad’s ouster

Updated 8 sec ago
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Syria’s foreign minister to make first official visit to Moscow since Assad’s ouster

Lavrov will host his Syrian counterpart, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani, for talks in Moscow on Thursday
The two will discuss bilateral ties, as well as international and regional issues

DAMASCUS: Russia announced Wednesday that Syria’s foreign minister will visit Moscow, the first official visit to Russia by an official in the new government in Damascus since former Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted in a rebel offensive last year.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told the state news agency Tass that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will host his Syrian counterpart, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani, for talks in Moscow on Thursday. The two will discuss bilateral ties, as well as “international and regional issues,” the statement said.

There was no statement from Syria on the visit.

Assad was an ally of Russia, and Moscow’s scorched-earth intervention in support of him a decade ago turned the tide of Syria’s civil war, helping to keep Assad in his seat for years. However, when insurgent groups launched a new offensive last year, Russia did not intervene again to save Assad.

Instead, Assad took refuge in Russia after his ouster. The former president later claimed in a statement posted on Facebook that he had wanted to stay in the country and continue fighting but that the Russians had pulled him out.

He said that he left Damascus for Russia’s Hmeimim air base in the coastal province of Latakia on the morning of Dec. 8, hours after insurgents stormed the capital. He hadn’t planned to flee, but the Russians evacuated him to Russia after the base came under attack.

Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus, headed by interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow.

A Russian delegation visited Damascus in January, and the following month, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had a call with Al-Sharaa that the Kremlin described as “constructive and business-like.” Some Russian forces have remained on the Syrian coast, and Russia has reportedly sent oil shipments to Syria.

Al-Sharaa publicly thanked Russia for its “strong position in rejecting Israeli strikes and repeated violations of Syrian sovereignty” after Israel intervened in clashes between Syrian government forces and armed groups from the Druze religious minority earlier this month.

Morocco’s king calls for addressing regional inequalities

Updated 30 July 2025
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Morocco’s king calls for addressing regional inequalities

  • King Mohammed VI said it is not acceptable for Morocco to be a 'two-speed country

RABAT: Morocco’s King Mohammed VI urged on Tuesday the government to elaborate a new generation of reforms to ensure equal development between the country’s regions.
“It is not acceptable for Morocco – today or at any time in the future – to be a two-speed country,” the king, who has final say over the country’s strategic policies, said in an annual speech marking 26 years of his reign.
While the level of poverty has dropped in Morocco from 11.9 percent in 2014 to 6.8 percent in 2024, some inner regions show above-average poverty levels, according to the national statistics agency.
Morocco has attracted industrial investments in sectors such as aerospace and car manufacturing, which now top its exports.
However, most of the country’s GDP, industry and critical infrastructure are concentrated in the northwestern areas, leaving the rest of Morocco dependent on farming, fisheries and tourism.
“Some regions — particularly in rural areas — are still suffering from poverty and vulnerability, due to a lack of infrastructure and basic facilities,” the king said.
The new reforms should aim at improving social services, education, health care and water management as well as promoting employment, he said.
Morocco created just 82,000 jobs last year, which falls short of reducing the country’s high unemployment rate at 13.3 percent, according to the central bank.
In his speech, the king also reaffirmed Morocco’s readiness for “a frank, responsible, fraternal and sincere dialogue on the various issues pending” with Algeria.
Algeria cut ties with Morocco in 2021, halted the flow of gas, banned Moroccan flights from crossing its airspace and imposed visas on Moroccans, after the kingdom resumed ties with Israel.
The two most populous countries in the Maghreb are at loggerheads over the status of Western Sahara. Morocco considers the territory its own, while Algeria hosts and backs the Polisario Front, which seeks its own state there.
The king also thanked the UK and Portugal, the most recent Western nations to back Morocco’s autonomy plan for the territory.


Syrian, Israeli ministers to hold meeting in Baku on Thursday: diplomat

Updated 30 July 2025
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Syrian, Israeli ministers to hold meeting in Baku on Thursday: diplomat

  • The meeting between Syrian and Israeli ministers follows a similar one between them in Paris last week
  • Baku’s meeting will focus on “the security situation, particularly in southern Syria”

DAMASCUS: A Syrian-Israeli ministerial meeting is set to take place on Thursday in Baku to discuss security matters in southern Syria, a diplomat told AFP.
The meeting between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer follows a similar meeting between the two ministers in Paris last week.
It will take place after an unprecedented visit by Shaibani to Moscow on Thursday, added the diplomat, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Russia was a key backer of former President Bashar Assad, overthrown in December.
Israel and Syria have technically been at war since 1948.
The meeting in Baku will focus on “the security situation, particularly in southern Syria.”
The Paris meeting focused mainly on “recent security developments and attempts to contain the escalation in southern Syria,” according to Syrian state television.
It came after deadly clashes in southern Syria’s Druze-majority Sweida province which killed hundreds of people.
The clashes initially pitted local Druze fighters against Bedouin tribes but soon saw the involvement of Syrian government forces and Israel, with the latter saying it wanted to protect the Druze.
Israel struck the Syrian presidential palace and the army headquarters in Damascus.
The United States, an ally of Israel that has also expressed support for Syria’s authorities, announced a ceasefire between the two sides overnight on July 18.
Before the violence in Sweida, Syrian and Israeli officials had met in Baku on July 12.
Russian bases in Syria
Israel has occupied Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967, annexing it in 1981 in a move not recognized by the international community.
The two signed a disengagement agreement a year after the 1973 war, establishing a UN-patrolled buffer zone between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights.
Since the fall of Assad, Israel deployed its troops to the buffer zone and has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria.
Damascus admitted to holding indirect talks with Israel to reduce escalations.
The diplomat said Shaibani will head on Thursday to the Russian capital, where Assad sought refuge, and will meet with Russian officials to discuss several issues, including Russian military bases in Syria, to negotiate “the terms of the bases’ continued existence and operating rights.”
Moscow wishes to keep its naval base in Tartus and its air base in Hmeimim.
It faced heavy criticism for its intervention into Syria’s civil war on Assad’s side in 2015, supporting the government militarily and conducting countless airstrikes on rebel-held areas.
The new authorities in Damascus did not break ties with Russia after taking over, and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met Syrian interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus in January.
According to the diplomat, Shaibani’s trip to Moscow will also include talks on “supporting bilateral cooperation and revitalising diplomatic and security relations” between the two countries, as well as discussing “steps regarding internal security and foreign fighters.”


Jordanian king says Gaza catastrophe ‘unlike anything witnessed’ in recent history

Updated 30 July 2025
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Jordanian king says Gaza catastrophe ‘unlike anything witnessed’ in recent history

  • King Abdullah affirms that ‘Jordan has been, and will remain, the greatest support for Gaza’s people’
  • He emphasized Jordan’s ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza conflict and highlighted discussions aimed at enhancing the humanitarian response

LONDON: King Abdullah II of Jordan said on Wednesday that the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is among the worst in modern history, as the Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian coastal enclave reaches its 22nd month.

He affirmed that “Jordan has been, and will remain, the greatest support for Gaza’s people, who are suffering from a humanitarian catastrophe unlike anything witnessed in recent history.”

During a meeting with media representatives at Al Husseiniya Palace, King Abdullah emphasized Jordan’s ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza conflict. He highlighted discussions with Germany and Canada, as well as coordination with Arab leaders and international partners, aimed at enhancing the humanitarian response in Gaza.

“The suffering of our brethren in Gaza strikes at the very sense of our humanity, not just because it is happening at our doorstep, but also because this country was built on compassion, on standing with those who suffer,” he said.

“No matter how much we do, it can never measure up to the scale of the horror Palestinians in Gaza endure every single day, not when entire families are being erased and children are being starved.

“But that doesn’t mean that we are not doing everything in our power. We are. And we will continue to do so, relentlessly and without hesitation,” he said, Petra news agency reported.

The Jordanian leadership has been steadfast in its support of Palestinian rights, including the establishment of statehood and an end to Israeli occupation policies. Jordan was one of the first countries to conduct airlift missions in the early days of the Israeli war, delivering relief to Gaza, and dispatching hundreds of aid convoy trucks to the territory since late 2023.


Palestinian president hails ‘courageous’ New York call by 15 nations as ‘historic step toward peace’

Updated 30 July 2025
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Palestinian president hails ‘courageous’ New York call by 15 nations as ‘historic step toward peace’

  • Their call for recognition of Palestinian statehood follows UN conference, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, on a 2-state solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians
  • It is signed by the foreign ministers of Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia and Spain

LONDON: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his gratitude for a call by the foreign ministers of 15 Western countries for nations that have not yet officially recognized the State of Palestine to make moves to do so.

Their call came after the conclusion on Tuesday of a two-day, high-level international conference, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, that took place at the UN headquarters in New York with the aim of advancing efforts to achieve a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia and Spain. Not all of these countries have officially announced recognition of Palestinian statehood as yet.

Abbas described the statement as courageous, the official Palestinian Wafa News Agency reported, and added that it “represents a historic step toward achieving a just and comprehensive peace and strengthens international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

He said these friendly nations had affirmed their commitment to the vision of a two-state solution and peace based on the rule of international law and relevant UN resolutions, and urged other countries to support their initiative to help ensure security and stability for all peoples in the region.

On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK would officially recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, unless Israel takes action to end the war and “the appalling situation in Gaza,” and commits to a long-term, sustainable plan for peace based on a two-state solution.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced that France will officially recognize Palestinian statehood during the General Assembly.