UK aid is reaching Syria and Turkey as death toll tops 33,000
The UK’s aid is reaching Syria according to development minister Andrew Mitchell – who defended the government’s response to the earthquake which rocked Turkey and Syria last week.
The tremor from the quake only added to the devastation in war-torn Syria – who’s in the grips of an almost 12-year civil war.
The war has been a source of instability in the Middle East and the civilian displacement and refugee exodus are one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history.
The damage to Syria from the earthquake has only worsened the humanitarian crisis. Many local rescue groups have complained about the lack of international aid.
At least 33,000 people are confirmed dead across Turkey and Syria following the quakes – which collapsed thousands of buildings.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Mitchell said the UK had helped Syria from “the beginning” but noted that it had been much more difficult to get aid to Syria.
The UK has sent firefighters to Turkey and provided funding for major rescue operations in Syria, Mr Mitchell said.
The struggle in getting aid to Syria is a result of years of conflict, as parts of the country remain under the control of rebels who are battling with the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which is under Western sanctions.
Some rebel-held areas in northwest Syria are inaccessible due to the civil war.
Currently, the UN is only allowed to use one route to deliver aid into north-western Syria over the Turkish border into the province of Idlib.
Millions made homeless by earthquake
The World Health Organization (WHO) said about 26 million people across both countries have been affected by the quakes. In Syria, up to 5.3 million people have been made homeless.
The UK government is giving £8m of support to Syria and Turkey, sending items such as tents and blankets as well as medical teams and rescue teams.
An extra £3m in funding will be given to the White Helmets, a volunteer organisation that operates in parts of Syria and in Turkey.
A UK appeal to help survivors of the quakes across both countries has raised more than £60m in its first three days – including a £5m donation from the government.
On Sunday, the chief of the UN aid agency, Martin Griffiths, said the international community has failed the people of north-west Syria.
“They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn’t arrived,” Mr Griffiths said on Twitter. “My duty and our obligation is to correct this failure as fast as we can.”
Time is running out – UK rescuer
Speaking to the BBC, Nick Searle from the UK International Search and Rescue Team (ISAR) said it had been an “extremely traumatic” week for the group.
About 77 of the UK ISAR’s trained emergency workers – including firefighters, medics, vets and structural engineers – have been deployed to areas badly impacted by the disaster.
Searle said tiredness was “starting to kick in” after seven days of working around the clock in freezing conditions to rescue people from under the rubble.
UK ISAR rescue missions normally last around 10 days and the team is “fully aware the clock is ticking”, Searle said.
“We’re 10 days self-sufficient, so we don’t impose ourselves on the affected country at all.
“[The team] know our time out there is coming to an end and they know that people who are trapped there have probably only got a day or two left before we can get to them,” he told BBC Breakfast.
Death toll at 33,000 and expected to rise
Today the death toll is more than 33,000 and by the end of Monday, it’s expected to be even higher.
There are still rescue stories making the headlines, but one week after the earthquakes, a second humanitarian crisis is on the horizon.
The cold weather and the lack of shelter, food and water could see the number of deaths rise even further.
The rescue phase in Syria will soon come to a close with the focus being on attempting to shelter the survivors and provide them with shelter, food, schooling and healthcare.
