Aid blocked in northwestern Syria for more than four million people living in rebel-held areas near the city of Jindires. A city already strongly tried by 12 years of civil war, now devastated by the earthquake. .
Ten days after the disaster, humanitarian aid has not arrived.
Faced with this situation of maximum emergency and thanks to international pressure, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed on Monday to open two border crossings between Turkey and rebel-held areas to allow the passage of aid.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who visited the area, raised the alarm specifying that everything is still to be done.
People have no food, no medicines, and are battling the cold.
The situation in hospitals
In the local hospital there are dozens of children injured by the earthquake. They are little ones who have only known war and now this new shocking drama. Many of them have lost their families.
The UN has launched an appeal to urgently raise almost 400 million dollars to help a population in desperate need of shelter, medical care and nutrition over the next three months.
“The opening of these crossings, together with the facilitation of humanitarian access, the acceleration of visa approvals and the facilitation of travel between hubs – said the secretary general Antonio Guterres – will allow more aid to arrive and faster “.
