The complex tragedy in war-torn Syria has been compounded by a devastating earthquake and political dysfunction

After two devastating earthquakes struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, the number of confirmed deaths has continued to climb, passing 50,000 as of February 24.

The United Nations estimates that millions of people on both sides of the border have been affected, including 9 million in Syria alone. Many across northwest Syria are suffering from winter conditions without adequate shelter or access to food, drinking water, electricity or heating fuel.

Indian economist Amartya Sen famously argued that famines should be understood as problems of human origins rather than mere natural disasters. Likewise, the consequences of this catastrophe must be understood in the broader context of the region’s politics.

Just as the scale of the devastation in Turkey can be partly blamed on shoddy construction and the political apparatus that enabled it, the consequences of the earthquake in Syria can be partly explained by the country’s devastating civil war.

Since it began in 2011, the war there has killed more than 600,000 people and displaced more than half of Syria’s population. This includes more than 6 million Syrians who have fled abroad as refugees and another 7 million who are displaced within Syria.

Of those displaced Syrians, 3 million now live in the last part of Syria still controlled by opposition forces, the area around the city of Idlib in northwest Syria.

This region was severely affected by the earthquake and it can be said that it is the Syrian region least prepared to withstand the earthquake.

Unable to meet basic needs

The buildings of Idlib, already badly damaged by years of bombing by the regime and allied Russian forces, had little chance of withstanding the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023.

In the immediate aftermath, rescue operations were hampered by the unavailability of search and rescue equipment. Members of the Syrian civil defense organization known as the White Helmets managed to rescue some from the rubble, but Syrians interviewed in the media lamented that some of the dead could have been rescued with better equipment and a faster international response.

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Even worse, over the past several years, Russian and Syrian government forces have repeatedly bombed medical facilities in the area, leaving them beyond their capacity even before the earthquake.

Now these facilities are overwhelmed with the huge numbers of injured people who need medical attention.

The impact of war on aid delivery

To make matters worse, continued hostilities and political bickering hampered the distribution of aid to the survivors.

Syria today is divided between several warring parties, including the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, and the array of armed groups that make up the opposition to the Assad regime.

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the Syrian government—which has a history of diverting international aid and using starvation as a weapon of war—insisted that all international earthquake aid must come via government-held territory.

This position is rejected by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the authoritarian opposition faction that controls most of Idlib province, which has refused to allow aid into the area that is sent from areas of government control.

After a week of international pressure, the Syrian government allowed the opening of additional border crossings from Turkey into affected areas for aid distribution by the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, reported that aid being sent to earthquake-stricken areas controlled by the SDF has been blocked by both regime forces and the Turkish-backed armed group known as the National Army. Syrian. .

Syrian regime forces reportedly insisted that the aid could only get through if half of it was handed over to them.

Such barriers do not exist in government-controlled areas, where international aid has been able to access directly. The United States and the European Union have also adjusted their sanctions against the Syrian government for the next six months to ensure speedy delivery of humanitarian aid.

But the long-term economic consequences of the war, including the collapse of the Syrian currency, mean that all regions of Syria face a difficult recovery.

Syrians who fled the country were also affected. Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, many of whom have settled in the quake-hit area.

Like the Turkish population of the region, they too have lost their families, friends, homes and livelihoods. Now, some also face hostility from those who oppose government aid to refugees.

The task of rebuilding Syria

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, it is understood that the first impulse for the international community was to send search and rescue teams, food, medicine and other types of aid.

But in the long term, the factors that made this earthquake so devastating remain unresolved and will complicate any humanitarian response. An effective response must take into account the human origins of the political, economic and humanitarian conditions that led to civil war – not just the impact of a natural disaster.

A good first step would be to make additional border crossings into opposition-held areas permanent, which have only been temporarily authorized by the Syrian government, though the regime would be reluctant to do so.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, center, February 10, 2023, visits earthquake-hit neighborhoods in Aleppo. AFP via Getty Images

It will be especially important to rebuild medical facilities in Idlib, where the Syrians are providing supplies as best they can.

Both Syria and Turkey are facing a painful process of reconstruction. But for Syria, the process will be further complicated by an unending war that will have consequences for Syria for years to come.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent, nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. If you find it interesting, you can subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

It was written by: Ora Szeckley, Clark University.

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Ora Szekely does not work for, consult with, own, or receive funding from any company, organization, or organization that benefits from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond her academic appointment.

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