Bab al-Hawa, Syria – With a whole bunch of individuals trapped, rescuers have lamented the shortage of worldwide humanitarian help desperately wanted after the devastating earthquake that killed hundreds in northwest Syria.
While rescue groups and volunteers from world wide have made their technique to Turkey, medical volunteer Obaida Rannoush referred to as out the inaction of the worldwide group on the subject of his nation.
“I call on the international community, the Arab countries, and the United Nations to urgently help us,” he mentioned, standing by the Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
“More than 60 hours after the quake took place, there are still hundreds trapped under the debris. We cannot rescue them because of our meagre resources. We need heavy machinery, humanitarian and medical aid,” he mentioned.
Until now, he went on to say, not a single humanitarian convoy has crossed the border.
“We have not received any kind of assistance,” Rannoush mentioned. “We are standing here by the border crossing to ask for humanitarian aid so we can save some of the people under the rubble.”
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) mentioned it’s deploying groups and three flights with medical provides to Turkey and Syria.
“The health needs are tremendous,” mentioned Dr Iman Shankiti, the WHO consultant for Syria.
Many hundreds are additionally injured, Shankiti mentioned, including that the Syrian healthcare system was already on its knees after years of warfare.
Millions affected
In northwest Syria, the sluggish worldwide response is a matter of life or dying for a whole bunch nonetheless trapped underneath the concrete of collapsed buildings.
The lack of response has prompted dozens of Syrian journalists to stage a sit-in on the Bab al-Hawa crossing.
Mazen Alloush, head of media relations for the Bab al-Hawa border, mentioned thousands and thousands of Syrians have been affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks.
“The crossing has been closed since the earthquake took place,” he mentioned.
Madevi Sun-Suon, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), mentioned on Tuesday that support flows from Turkey to northwest Syria have briefly stopped due to the fallout from the earthquake.
“Some roads are broken, some are inaccessible. There are logistical issues that need to be worked through,” she mentioned.
Funerals however no support
But Alloush rejected these claims, saying the roads are open.
“Every half hour or so we see cars carrying the bodies of Syrian people who died in the earthquake in Turkey crossing the border into Syria,” he mentioned. “So how can the roads be closed for support however open for funeral convoys?
“We know that the UN aid is stored in the Turkish city of Reyhanli, which is just one kilometre away from the border crossing,” he added.
So far, the our bodies of 300 Syrians who died from the earthquake in Turkey have crossed into Syria for funerals. But Alloush mentioned because the first moments after the quake, Turkey stopped receiving medical sufferers from Syria, and has additionally barred volunteer groups from crossing the border.
“No aid has entered [north Syria] through any of the corridors,” Abdul Razzak Kentar, programmes supervisor on the Syria Civil Defence, informed Al Jazeera.
“Only an Egyptian technical staff of 20 individuals, together with medical doctors with out tools, entered by means of the Bab al-Hawa crossing.
“All the crossings based on official statements have been opened – Bab al-Hawa, Jarabulus, and Bab al-Salamah. But as for the civil defence, we now have not acquired any worldwide or non-international help to this point.
“We are still working with our reserves and aid from local organisations operating in the liberated north,” Kentar mentioned.
If you need to study the way to donate to the Turkey and Syria earthquake catastrophe response, go right here.
