Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has decided to open the two crossing points of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee from Turkey to north-west Syria for an initial period of three months to allow for the timely delivery of humanitarian aid, UN chief said while welcoming the decision. “Opening these crossing points — along with facilitating humanitarian access, accelerating visa approvals and easing travel between hubs — will allow more aid to go in, faster,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
This comes after UN aid chief Martin Griffiths met with the Syrian president in Damascus on Monday. Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations Bassam Sabbagh also spoke to media personnel following a closed-door meeting of the Security Council.
“Syria supports the entry of humanitarian aid into the region through all possible crosspoints” for three months he reportedly said and added that he believes a UN resolution on the matter is not necessary.
The distribution of food, health, nutrition, safety, housing, winter supplies, and other life-saving items to all the millions of individuals affected by the earthquake on February 6 is of the highest necessity.
A devastating earthquake struck Turkey and Syria a week ago, killing more than 37,000 people. Millions of people in need in the northwest of war-torn Syria have been receiving help since 2014 through Turkey thanks to a Security Council mandate that was accepted after the Syrian government objected to the proposal. The UN, however, is only permitted to use one border crossing.
The assistance transfers across the Syrian border were resisted by the administration there, which viewed them as an infringement on its sovereignty. UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said that the death toll of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria may increase to 50,000.
On Saturday, Griffiths visited the southern city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey, which was the epicentre of the first earthquake of 7.8-magnitude that upturned the lives of millions in Monday’s pre-dawn hours. Speaking to Sky News, Griffiths said, “I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble but I’m sure it will double or more. We haven’t really begun to count the number of dead.”
Meanwhile, an elderly woman and a two-month-old baby were rescued from the rubble on Saturday. Thousands of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in the flattened neighbourhood even as the misery of the survivors escalates amid freezing weather. However, amid despair, loss and destruction, stories of miraculous survival continue to emerge.
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