Syrian civil defense units have criticized the United Nations for failing to adequately respond to the humanitarian crisis in opposition-controlled areas of the country devastated by two major earthquakes.
Raed al-Saleh, who heads the White Helmets, said the area has not received any help from the UN since Monday’s earthquake aimed at disaster response, saying the six trucks that crossed the border into Syria on Thursday were regular cargo who was detained.
“The trucks that entered yesterday are the convoy that was supposed to enter on Monday, but was late due to the earthquake,” he told reporters via video link from Idlib. “Until now, northwestern Syria has received no assistance from the UN in response to the earthquake.”
Al-Saleh called the United Nations response “catastrophic” and said the organization should “apologize to the Syrian people for the lack of assistance it provided.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on al-Saleh’s allegations.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency, said 14 trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed the Syrian border after leaving the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep earlier on Friday. Trucks heading for opposition-held Idlib carried items including electric heaters, tents and blankets, according to the IOM.
Asked if the 14 trucks that entered Syria were part of a regular supply of aid and if they were related to the earthquake response, IOM spokesman Paul Dillon said the issue was not “prepositioning” the aid.
“The issue is that badly needed humanitarian aid suitable for displaced people, including tents, blankets and other supplies, is currently being delivered to northwest Syria,” he said.
The White Helmets, officially known as the Syrian Civil Defense, are credited with rescuing thousands of people in opposition-controlled areas that were bombed by the regime and Russian forces during Syria’s 12-year civil war.
Members of the White Helmets say they are neutral. Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad and his supporters, including Russia, call them Western propaganda tools and rebels.
World has forgotten about Syria – WHO official
Meanwhile, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official lamented a “forgotten crisis” in Syria on Friday as aid began pouring into rebel-held areas days after the devastating earthquake.
As the WHO prepared to deliver medical supplies to Syria from Dubai, Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said a huge amount of aid was waiting to arrive in opposition-held northwest Syria.
A single aid corridor that bypasses regime-controlled areas and serves a war-ravaged region of 4 million people was temporarily shut down by a strong earthquake on Monday.
The first convoy carrying emergency supplies finally passed through the Bab el-Hawa border crossing from Turkey on Thursday. More than 22,000 people died in the disaster in both countries.
“The world has forgotten about Syria,” Ryan told reporters in Dubai while preparing for a humanitarian flight.
“Honestly, earthquakes have attracted attention. But those millions of people in Syria have been fighting for years. It has become a forgotten crisis.”
UN chief António Guterres called on the Security Council on Thursday to authorize the opening of additional crossings on the Turkish-Syrian border to deliver UN aid to opposition areas.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned this week of a “race against time” to save lives in the quake area as aftershocks continue and freezing winter conditions bite.
Even before the earthquake, ten years of civil war and Syrian-Russian aerial bombardment had destroyed hospitals and caused power, fuel and water shortages in the opposition-held northwest.
“There is a huge amount of stock ready to ship,” Ryan said. “Many agencies, including ours, have made a preliminary choice because it is winter now and they are already very vulnerable.
“There is a huge problem with millions of people.”
The chances of finding survivors diminished before the arrival of first aid, after the end of a three-day period that experts consider critical for saving lives.
Ryan warned that Syria is currently facing a “secondary catastrophe” with loss of life due to lack of medical supplies.
“We must recognize that the scale of this catastrophe is so great that it exceeds all possibilities,” he said.
“If they don’t have the equipment, they can’t do their job – it’s like asking a firefighter to race towards a fire without a fire hose.”
Officials and medics said 19,875 people died in Turkey and 3,377 people in Syria in Monday’s earthquake, bringing the confirmed total to 22,368. Experts fear that their number will grow.
