ICRC holds Damascus, UN responsible for delay of aid to Syrians

The International Commission of Inquiry on Syria held the Damascus government and the United Nations responsible for the delay in the arrival of aid to the Syrians after the devastating earthquake that occurred on February 6, and called for an independent investigation into this matter.

13 March, 2023 16:43

Newsdesk

“While there have been many heroic acts on the part of the Syrians themselves to help the victims, we have also witnessed an abject failure of the government and the international community, including the United Nations, in directing much-needed vital assistance to northwestern Syria,” Commission Chair Paulo Pinheiro said in a statement.

He considered that "all these parties bear part of the responsibility," and demanded an "independent investigation."

"They failed to reach an agreement on an immediate halt to the fighting. They failed to facilitate the delivery of vital assistance through all available channels," he added, citing the sense of abandonment among Syrians and the need for an investigation.

Commissioner Hani Megally confirmed that international humanitarian organizations could have acted without waiting for the new border crossings to be identified.

And he believed that "it is not necessary (to wait) for a decision of the Security Council when there are people in a hopeless situation. There was an earthquake (...) and legal experts say that in exceptional circumstances it is possible to move, even if that means crossing borders or bypassing the sovereignty of the state."

The committee accused the Damascus government and its forces of "preventing cross-border aid to the affected communities," while accusing "the mercenaries of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra) in northwestern Syria of refusing aid."

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria hastened, after the earthquake to prepare convoys of aid for the affected people in Aleppo, and the regions of northern and western Syria, but the Damascus government and the Turkish occupation mercenaries impeded the entry of aid despite repeated appeals by the Autonomous Administration to allow it reach the afflicted.

Today, the official website of the Autonomous Administration published, "The aid convoy sent by the people of Sulaymaniyah to the earthquake-affected people in al-Shahba, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, is still awaiting approval from the Damascus government at al-Tayha crossing on its 6th day in a row."

ANHA