Why is it a “crisis within a crisis” for war-stricken Syria?

The death toll from the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in the early hours of February 6 (Monday), with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, has exceeded 24,000, making it one of the most devastating disasters in decades. In Syria alone, the death toll has exceeded 3,500. The Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, said that these numbers are expected to rise significantly due to the presence of hundreds of families under the rubble.

It comes in a region already bearing the scars of nearly 12 years of war, which led to food shortages, economic collapse, a humanitarian crisis and, most recently, a cholera outbreak. The country’s national infrastructure had been in crisis for years, and was barely able to support the war-stricken population.

We explain here why the earthquake is a crisis within a crisis for Syria.

What are the effects of the Syrian earthquake?

A United Nations official said that more than five million Syrians may be homeless after the earthquake.

“This is a huge number and it reaches a population that is already suffering from mass displacement,” said the representative of Syria for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Sivanka Dhanapala, on Friday. (There are already 6.8 million internally displaced persons in the country.)

For Syria, this is a crisis within a crisis. We’ve had economic shocks, COVID and are now in the depths of winter, with blizzards lashing affected areas. A number of our employees are sleeping outside because they are concerned about structural damage to their homes. This is just a microcosm of what is happening across the affected areas,” Dhanapala added.

The official Syrian News Agency (SANA) stated that among the areas most affected by the earthquake were Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Tartous, all located in the northwestern parts of the country. Idlib is the last opposition-held enclave in the country.

Across northwest Syria, apartments, shops, and entire neighborhoods collapsed in seconds due to the earthquake. People in these areas take shelter in tents, ancient ruins, and anywhere else they can find, now that their homes have been destroyed.

“How do we bear all this?” “With the Russian air strikes, then Bashar al-Assad’s attacks, and today an earthquake?” said Ibrahim al-Khatib, a resident of Taftanaz in northwestern Syria, who was startled from his sleep early in the morning and rushed out into the street with his neighbors. The New York Times reported.

“The infrastructure has been damaged and the roads we used to use in humanitarian work have been damaged, and we must be creative in how to reach people … but we are working hard,” Mustafa Benlamlih, the UN Resident Coordinator, told Reuters.

In a hospital outside Idlib, Syria, “at every moment, new bodies were brought in,” said Dr. Osama Salloum. A boy, estimated to be 6 years old, died while Slom was performing CPR on him. The New York Times quoted him as saying, “I saw life leave his face.”

How was the situation before the earthquake? Explaining the Syrian Civil War

Let’s go back to 2011. Since before the conflict, Syrians have been complaining about unemployment and corruption under Bashar al-Assad’s government. This led to pro-democracy demonstrations in parts of the country calling for the president’s resignation. This quickly escalated into a full-scale war between the Syrian government led by Assad, which was backed by Russia and Iran, and anti-government rebel groups, backed by the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and so on.

The United Nations human rights organization said that at least 350,209 civilians and combatants were killed between March 2011 and March 2021, but warned that this was “an underestimate”. (file/AP)

The BBC reported that Assad then said he wanted to crush what he called “foreign-supported terrorism.” It basically became a battle between Syrians who were for or against Assad. Over the years, terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Qaeda have become part of the war, all attacking each other.

With help from the United States, the Syrian rebels and the SDF have managed to carve out certain strongholds for themselves across the country. Even today, the Syrian government is under severe sanctions by the United States, European Union, Australia, Canada and Switzerland.

The civil war left the country divided into three parts. Areas controlled by the government, part of the Kurdish forces (Syrian Democratic Forces) backed by the United States, and the opposition that controls the northwestern parts, such as Idlib.

He also called on the UN Security Council to implement the 2012 Geneva Communiqué, which calls for a transitional governing body “to be formed on the basis of mutual consent.” However, nine rounds of UN-mediated talks failed to make the process.

The impact of the Syrian civil war in numbers

Because of this conflict, Syria is witnessing a social, economic and humanitarian crisis that has led to the deterioration of the people’s living conditions. The United Nations said the crisis remains the largest displacement crisis in the world.

The United Nations human rights organization said that at least 350,209 civilians and combatants were killed between March 2011 and March 2021, but warned that this was “an underestimate”. Of these, 26,727 female victims and 27,126 were children.

The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that about 90 percent of families in the country live in poverty, while more than 50 percent suffer from food insecurity. “The economic crisis exacerbates negative coping mechanisms and particularly affects female-headed households, while contributing to the normalization of gender-based violence and child exploitation,” the report states.

A report by the United Nations also stated that more than 13.4 million people (6.1 million children) need assistance and 7 million people (3.1 million children) are internally displaced. In 2022, 14.6 million people will need humanitarian assistance, an increase of 1.2 million from 2021.

What is added to this, is the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing poverty in the country. The United Nations said that Syria is currently ranked among the 10 most food insecure countries globally, with 12 million people considered to be food insecure. A quarter of all hospitals and a third of all primary health care centers remain non-functional and unable to respond to the growing health needs. There is also a shortage of healthcare workers due to displacement, death and injury, particularly in northeastern Syria.

In addition, half a million children suffer from chronic malnutrition and non-communicable and epidemic diseases are the most common causes of disease in Syria, particularly among displaced communities, where access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services is consistently worse than in the population. The World Health Organization (WHO) and host communities said.

According to a report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) dated January 18, 2023, more than 2.1 million people in northwest Syria live in sub-areas most at risk of a cholera outbreak.

Help parts of Syria

Providing aid to Syria is complicated, as the most affected areas are the northwestern parts controlled by the opposition factions.

The Reuters news agency quoted Mark Lowcock, the former head of humanitarian affairs at the United Nations, as saying: “It appears that the areas most affected by the earthquake inside Syria are run by the Turkish-controlled opposition, and not by the Syrian government.” It would take Turkey’s obedience to get help in those areas. It is unlikely that the Syrian government will do much to help.”

After more than a decade of fighting, millions of refugees have settled in Idlib and Aleppo, which remain outside government control.

The massive earthquakes come on top of decades of civil war in Syria, which has created millions of refugees and an escalating economic crisis (Reuters)

Fighting in Aleppo stopped in 2016, but only a few of the many damaged and destroyed buildings have been rebuilt. The population has also recently suffered from the economic collapse in Syria, which has led to higher food prices and thrown the population into poverty. Rebels captured the eastern part of the city in 2012, shortly after the start of the civil war. Over the following years, Russian-backed government forces fought to uproot them. Hence, the shock of the earthquake was too great.

Hovig Shahran told The Associated Press that during the worst of the war in Aleppo, in 2014, he and his parents fled their home in the frontline area because of the bombing and sniper fire. For years, they moved from neighborhood to neighborhood to avoid fighting. “It was part of our daily routine. Whenever we heard a sound, we left, and we knew who to call and what to do,” said the 24-year-old. “But…we didn’t know what to do with the earthquake. I was worried we were going to die.”

Another difficulty is that the only crossing between Syria and Turkey approved by the United Nations for aid movement has been halted due to damage to the roads around it.

On Friday, the International Organization for Migration reported that 14 trucks crossed into opposition-held areas of Syria from Turkey at Bab al-Hawa. The shipment was due before the disaster damaged the roads and temporarily stopped deliveries. Until then, the United Nations said it was finding it difficult to access these parts. However, local residents have expressed disappointment that the specialized equipment they need to save lives has not been sent, as it took nearly four days before aid reached parts of northwest Syria.

Meanwhile, the United States has temporarily eased its sanctions on Syria in an effort to speed up the delivery of aid to the northwestern parts. The Guardian also reported that Syria resists allowing aid into an area serving more than 4 million people because it views the aid as undermining Syrian sovereignty and reducing its chances of regaining control of the area.

However, late last night, the Syrian government agreed to deliver humanitarian aid across the front lines, saying the aid would reach those who need it with the help of the United Nations, the Syrian Red Crescent and the International Red Cross, state media reported. She also said that the government has declared the areas most affected by Monday’s deadly earthquake – Latakia, Hama, Aleppo and Idlib – disaster areas and will set up a fund for their rehabilitation.

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