Explained: Why Syria is still struggling to get aid a week after earthquake

A week has passed since a massive earthquake hit both Turkey and Syria leaving at least 29,000 people in Turkey and Syria and flattening swathes of towns and cities. But international relief is yet to find its way to many of the needy in Syria. On Sunday, the United Nations said earthquake aid from government-held parts of Syria into the Opposition-controlled territory has been held up by “approval issues” from one hardline group. Let’s take a closer look: ‘Syria is four Syrias’ The problem for aid workers is reaching the northern regions of Syria – a country shattered by over a decade of conflict. A key issue complicating the dispersal of aid is “the war and the way the aid response is split between rebel areas and Damascus,” said Aron Lund, a fellow with New York-based think -tank Century International who researches Syria. While the majority of Syria is under the control of the government in Damascus, most of the north is controlled by different — and sometimes conflicting — groups. The northwest is divided between land de facto controlled by Turkey and by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rebel group with ties to al-Qaida. Syria’s northeast is mostly held by US-backed Kurdish-led groups. As Dr Mohammed Zaher Sahloul, president and co-founder of the MedGlobal, told Arab News, “It is very hard to get aid to this area in Syria. Not many people know about the geopolitics and how Syria right now is not one Syria. Syria is four Syrias. Each part is controlled by a different governing body and different entity,” he said. Foreign aid for years has been brought into northwestern Idlib province by way of Turkey, because of the difficulty of going by way of Damascus.

But the area of southern Turkey traditionally used as a staging area has itself been heavily damaged by the earthquake.

Meanwhile, the government of Bashar Assad in Damascus is still a pariah in much of the international community. US and European countries, which have sanctioned the Assad regime, are reluctant to route aid directly through the government. American and EU officials have made clear the quake won’t change that. [caption id=“attachment_12138432” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Aid to quake-hit Syria has been sent via UN’s World Food Program. AP[/caption] “Of course, no one would like to have sanctions, but sanctions have nothing to do with the aid. Sanctions are manipulated by the Assad regime to promote their own agenda. The Assad regime has manipulated the aid. The Syrian government uses the tactic of ‘starve or kneel,’ and that is according to the UN. The only way in is through Turkiye,” Sahloul added. Of the 3,500 deaths so far reported in Syria the bulk occurred in the northwest, in territory largely held by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The area has received little assistance as frontlines with the government are sealed off and only a single border crossing links it to Turkey to the north. “The world left us to our own destiny facing the criminal Bashar al-Assad. But this is a natural disaster,” Ibahim Bakkour, a local council member of Sawran told NPR. “There’s no political argument here; it’s a humanitarian situation and we need help.” Speaking to BBC, Dr Farouk al Omar just shook his head and laughed when the topic of foreign aid was broached. “We cannot talk more about this topic. We spoke about that a lot. And nothing happened. Even in a normal situation, we don’t have enough medical staff. And just imagine what it’s like in this catastrophe after earthquake,” Omar said. ‘Won’t allow regime to take advantage’ The Syrian government last week said it was willing to send aid to the northern zone. An HTS source who was not authorised to talk to the media told Reuters the group would not allow shipments from government-held parts of Syria and that aid would be coming in from Turkey.

“We won’t allow the regime to take advantage of the situation to show they are helping,” the source said.

A spokesperson for the UN’s humanitarian aid office told Reuters there were “issues with approval” by the group, which the UN and the United States classify as a terrorist organisation, without giving further information. A UN spokesperson in Damascus declined to comment beyond saying the organisation “continues to work with relevant parties to have access to the area.” Arriving in Damascus on Sunday, UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen said: “We need all the access we can have, crossline, cross-border, and we need more resources. “We are reaching out of course to bilateral countries, we are mobilizing funding, and we’re trying to tell everyone (to) put politics aside, this is a time to unite behind a common effort to support the Syrian people,” he said. Aid convoy Earlier on Sunday UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said the people of north-east Syria had been failed and “rightly feel abandoned”.

The HTS media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An aid convoy from Syria’s Kurdish-led northeastern region carrying fuel and other aid was also turned back on Thursday from the northwest, where Turkey-backed rebels are in control. But Turkey said last week it may be willing to open a direct border crossing with government-held zones in Syria, as ties begin to thaw more than a decade after Ankara cut off diplomatic ties with Damascus over the conflict. The UN is also hoping to ramp up cross-border operations by opening an additional two border points between Turkey and opposition-held Syria for aid deliveries, spokesperson Jens Laerke said. UN aid chief Griffiths “is working the phones very hard on that front on the diplomatic front, speaking to everyone to unlock more border crossings,” Laerke said. Griffiths will brief the UN Security Council on Monday and hoped to use a “water-tight argument” about urgent needs to overcome historic resistance from Russia - a key ally of Damascus - to the cross-border aid operation. Russia has pushed for more cross-line deliveries but Laerke said that “in terms of volume and frequency of aid, the cross-border operation is the main show.” The European Union’s envoy to Syria on Sunday urged authorities in Damascus to “engage in good faith” with aid workers to get help to those in need. “It is important to allow unimpeded access for aid to arrive in all areas where it is needed,” Dan Stoenescu told Reuters. “Entering a fake blame game is not constructive and does not help us deliver aid to those in so much need and distress in a more timely manner. On the contrary,” Stoenescu added. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.