Syria’s President Assad wants to open borders for aid deliveries

Syria’s ruler Bashar al-Assad has asked for international support for the earthquake victims in his country and, according to the UN, has also promised to open two more border crossings for aid supplies. This will make it possible for “more help to come in” and for it to be “faster”, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday. Since the earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area just over a week ago, very little aid has arrived in Syria. So far, there has only been one open border crossing.

According to Guterres, the agreement now reached with Damascus also includes access to conflict zones for humanitarian workers and faster visa procedures. The border crossings that are also to be opened are Bab Al-Salam and Al-Ra’ee. They are in north-eastern Syria on the border with Turkey. The opening will initially apply for three months, Guterres said before an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria.

UN sources said Assad promised to open the borders at a meeting with UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths in Damascus on Monday. After this meeting, the Syrian Presidency released a statement saying that Assad was hoping for international help to rebuild his country. In the conversation with Griffiths, Assad emphasized “the importance of international efforts” to help “restore the infrastructure in Syria”.

3,688 dead, up to 5.3 million homeless in Syria

Griffiths also met with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. He had previously visited Aleppo, Syria, where more than 200,000 people were made homeless by the earthquake a week ago. He told reporters at the scene that the UN wants to raise money for organizations helping Syria deal with the aftermath of the earthquake. The calls for donations for both Syria and Turkey would be made in the coming days.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Turkish-Syrian border area on Monday last week. According to the authorities, 31,643 fatalities have been recovered in Turkey so far. 3,688 people died across the border in Syria. According to UN estimates, up to 5.3 million people could have become homeless in Syria alone as a result of the earthquake.

Aid deliveries reach Syria only sporadically

While international aid to Turkey is now in full swing, it is slow to arrive in Syria. After 12 years of civil war, the disaster area in the northwest of the country is divided into Damascus-controlled areas and territories controlled by anti-government and predominantly Islamist militias. This complicates the already difficult situation for rescue workers and aid supplies. For days, the Bab al-Hawa border crossing was the only open crossing for aid deliveries to Syria.

In view of this situation, there have recently been increasing calls for Damascus to open further border crossings. These demands should also be the subject of the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, and Griffiths should also report on his trip to the disaster areas. US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday that the opening of two more crossings announced by Guterres is “a good thing for the Syrian people” – if Assad is “serious” about it.