Syrian doctors residing in Spain ask for aid to be sent to Syria after the earthquake

The earthquake that struck northwestern Syria early Monday morning has caused more than 3,000 and 4,600 injuries and hundreds of thousands of displaced people in a region that has been particularly hard hit by a war of more than eleven years.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
14 February 2023 Tuesday 03:43
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Syrian doctors residing in Spain ask for aid to be sent to Syria after the earthquake

The earthquake that struck northwestern Syria early Monday morning has caused more than 3,000 and 4,600 injuries and hundreds of thousands of displaced people in a region that has been particularly hard hit by a war of more than eleven years. Faced with the catastrophe, the Association of Hispanic-Syrian Doctors of Catalonia urges the international community to send humanitarian assistance to the country.

"We call on the Spanish Government, UN member states, members of the European Parliament, the International Committee of the Red Cross, NGOs, as well as all humanitarian organizations to extend their hand and send urgent aid. ", writes the entity's spokesman Jamil Ajram in a statement.

Likewise, the doctors' association calls for the lifting of the sanctions imposed against the country governed by Bashar al-Assad because, according to it, they are the cause that prevents the arrival of the required aid. "These sanctions leave Syria without the material or machinery necessary to rescue the people buried under the rubble," he says.

The Damascus-based Syrian Red Crescent has also called for the lifting of sanctions, which the Syrian government has long blamed for mounting economic hardship and which the United States tightened in 2020. Western countries say their The objective is to put pressure on the Syrian government to end the repression and negotiate a political settlement.

Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, controls most of the fractured country. An example of this division is the area affected by the earthquake, in the northwest of the country, where the Syrian Executive controls the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, the outskirts of Idlib and Tartus; while the opposition does so from the northwestern governorate of Idlib, the country's last opposition stronghold, and in other parts of neighboring Aleppo that also escape Damascus' control.

The European Union yesterday encouraged member countries to send aid to Syria, following a request made by the Syrian government. The bloc plans to send additional emergency support to both countries and emergency humanitarian assistance worth 6.5 million euros in one of the largest search and rescue operations in history through its Civil Protection Mechanism. European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said he encouraged member states to contribute the requested assistance.

Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, which once supported Syria's opposition but have normalized ties with Assad in recent years, have sent aid to Damascus, as well as Tunisia, Algeria and other countries. Key ally Russia has also joined, sending rescue teams and deploying forces already in Syria to join the rescue effort.