Robin Fleming
Mentions of the 6 February earthquakes are slowly filtering out of mainstream news and the general consciousness, but for the people of southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, it is still their reality and they will be living with the consequences of the disaster and both the Syrian and Turkish governments’ poor responses.
Now I want to zoom in, and look closely at the reality of the situation following the earthquakes in the Turkish-occupied areas: the areas taken in operation ‘Peace Spring’ in 2019 such as the cities of Tel Abyad (Gire Spi) and Ras al’Ayn (Sere Kaniye) and also the areas occupied since operation ‘Olive Branch’ in 2018, such as the city of Afrin and the surrounding areas.
Areas in the north of Syria have been destroyed by the 6 February earthquakes, and Turkish-backed militants in the occupied areas have continued to prey on the weak and exploit the situation.
‘Peace Spring’
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) has reported that many Syrian refugees who had previously fled to Turkey are now returning to Syria to escape the effects of the earthquake; not only the material devastation, but also the responses of the Turkish authorities. For example, following the disaster, Turkish authorities issued a new decision, giving Syrian migrants in the affected areas of Turkey unpaid leave from three to six months. The situations for Syrians on both sides of the border is more desperate than ever, but now it is estimated that approximately 15,000 Syrians have returned into Syria into the city of Tel Abyad, which is under the control of Turkish-backed factions.
Some of those Syrian families are potentially from Tel Abyad, but many are also from other regions of Syria such as Deir Ezzor, Al-Raqqah, Al-Hasakah or Manbij and are unable to return to their home cities due to road blockages by mercenary groups. Smugglers have predictably started to exploit families’ overwhelming desires to return home by charging them exorbitant amounts of money.
As of 20 February, the Turkish-backed authorities in Tel Abyad has still not reached any agreement or decision about opening humanitarian corridors to others areas of Syria. The families stuck there have been able to receive very little aid, leaving residents of the city with the task of collecting donations to help people return.
At the same time as hundreds of Syrians returning from Turkey, SOHR have also reported on dozens of civilians who attempted to cross the border from Tel Abyad to Turkey, in the opposite direction as their countrymen. On both sides of the border we can see people desperate to hope for a better situation somewhere else, and consistently have their hopes dashed by Turkish-backed militiamen, such as the ‘National Army’ faction who have reportedly severely beaten 31 civilians trying to escape to Turkey after the earthquake, and after beating them, the militiamen looted their homes and abandoned them at frontlines close to regions controlled by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
‘Olive Branch’
The city of Jendires near Afrin was the worst-hit city in Syria, with an estimated 90% of all of the city damaged to a greater or lesser extent, and unknown thousands dead.
If anything, the situation in the regions occupied in operation ‘Olive Branch’ is even worse. The city of Jendires, in the Afrin district of the Aleppo governorate, was by far the most damaged city in Syria. Unknown thousands have died and been wounded and 90% of its buildings were damaged. It is estimated that the reconstruction of the city will take a minimum of two years to complete, discounting any possibilities of financial or security obstacles.
Turkish-backed factions including Ahrar Al-Sharqiyah, and Al-Amshat have been accused of stealing rescue materials intended for earthquake victims, and not distributing the aid. Because of this, many villages throughout the Afrin countryside are yet to receive humanitarian aid. According to SOHR, the only villages of Afrin which have actually received aid fairly are Hamam and Fakira, who received aid only from the ‘Al-Barzani’ charity from Iraqi Kurdistan.
SOHR also said:
“On February 16, Tarmisha village in Shaikh Al-Hadid district in Afrin countryside witnessed public discontent among the residents, due to the unfair distribution of humanitarian and rescue aids on those affected by the earthquake, especially after its native residents were deprived of the aids that entered the village….Those people affected by the earthquake demanded the institutions to distribute the aids fairly and to not politicise the humanitarian condition and spark dispersion and discrimination among residents of the village.”
Consistently, we can see even in a terrible disaster such as 6 February’s earthquakes, the Turkish-backed factions in control of Syrian cities use every opportunity they can get to benefit from the unfortunate situation, and once again it is Syrian civilians who continue to suffer.
Robin Fleming is an American Researcher who worked with the Rojava Information Centre and specialises in North and East Syria.
