AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE: THE POLITICS OF AID IN SYRIA

Febbraio 16, 2023

AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE: THE POLITICS OF AID IN SYRIA

The MED This Week newsletter provides expert analysis and informed insights on the MENA region’s most significant issues and trends, bringing together unique opinions on the topic and reliable foresight on possible future scenarios. Today, we place the spotlight on the February 6 earthquake and the politics of aid in Syria.

The earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February the 6th has had catastrophic consequences, claiming the lives of more than 40,000 people. But while emergency aid and rescue teams flew almost unhindered into Turkey, Syria, and especially the rebel-held northwest part of the country, has been tragically neglected. In the days immediately after the earthquake, little aid and few rescuers managed to arrive in the rebel enclave, whose 4 million inhabitants were already almost entirely dependent on the UN humanitarian assistance. Virtually all this aid entered Syria from Turkey through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing (the last one to have remained open), which even before the seism was insufficient to meet the humanitarian needs of the northwest. On Monday, after insisting for days that all aid ought to be handled by Damascus, Bashar al-Assad agreed to temporarily open two additional border crossings. This can largely be seen as the regime’s attempt to reaffirm its control over long-lost areas of Syria, as well as to re-establish a dialogue with the international community. In fact, the earthquake might have given Assad the diplomatic opportunity that he was waiting for.