Jürgen Klute
While I am writing these lines, the number of reported dead has already risen to over 17,000. And the number is obviously still rising. The number of injured and the number of homeless is much higher, the destruction seen in photos is enormous. It seems that this earthquake was one of the strongest ever recorded in the region.
In view of this destruction and the human suffering caused by this earthquake, one would think that the responsible politicians would interrupt ongoing conflicts and open political borders in order to provide all possible help to the affected people in the catastrophe region.
Apparently, however, this is not the case. Yesterday, I first received a newsletter from the Kurdish Institute (Koerdisch Instituut) in Brussels. It said that aid in the disaster area is definitely not accessible to all in the same way. The Kurdish Institute also complained that the international media hardly mention that in Syria, primarily Kurdish settlement areas have been affected by the earthquake.
Then I read the article by Robin Fleming “World media has forgotten the Autonomous Administration in the earthquake’s rubble” here on Medya News. https://medyanews.net/world-media-has-forgotten-the-autonomous-administration-in-the-earthquakes-rubble/ It confirms what was reported in the Kurdish Institute newsletter and it reminds us that the northern Syrian disaster area has been suffering from the consequences of the civil war in Syria for years and has therefore lost all resources to face this catastrophe on its own.
The German-language news magazine “Der Spiegel” reported that the border crossings between northern Syria and Turkey have not been opened by the Turkish side for humanitarian aid so far, although the disaster areas are easier and faster to reach from the Turkish side than from Syria.
But that is not all. The German daily “Frankfurter Rundschau” reported that the Turkish army also bombed Kurdish areas in northern Syria (Rojava) after the earthquake happened. And the daily newspaper “taz” reported that due to the internal conflicts in Syria, aid is only very rarely reaching the target areas, although several of Syria’s neighbouring states have meanwhile sent aid convoys to northern Syria.
In view of the dramatic situation, this action by the responsible political leaders is completely incomprehensible and cynical. After all, the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has meanwhile demanded the opening of all border crossings between Syria and Turkey and the Red Half Moon is calling for an end to the sanctions against Syria. At least a temporary suspension of sanctions would be justified in the interest of the earthquake victims. The UN as well as the European Union (EU) and the EU member states should make their aid conditional on an end to all hostilities in the disaster area and on an immediate end to all politically motivated obstructions to humanitarian aid. Anyway, the Kurdish PKK announced a ceasefire on the evening of 9 February 2023.
Short-term assistance from the EU could also consist of granting visas quickly and unbureaucratically to people from the disaster region who have been made homeless by the earthquake and who have relatives in the EU so that they can find shelter from the cold for the next few weeks until reconstruction work can start.
Priority must be given to providing rapid assistance to the injured. As a second step, the reconstruction of the destroyed dwellings must be tackled quickly. The region now affected by the earthquake is one of the most earthquake-prone in the world. Scientists expect more severe earthquakes in the region in the near future. Therefore, during reconstruction, it must be ensured that the houses are rebuilt earthquake-resistant according to today’s standards. In the interests of the people in the region, international institutions and donors must insist that any reconstruction aid is conditional on the reconstruction being earthquake-resistant. Technically, this is possible. But it must be enforced politically. Here, too, the UN and the EU have a special responsibility.
Jürgen Klute was a Die Linke (The Left) MEP and spokesman for the Kurdish Friendship Group in the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014. Since December 2016, he has been editing the Europa.blog.
