The earthquake in Turkey and Syria exposed the double standards with which the United States and Europe attend to the humanitarian needs of the two countries. The first and largest victim – his deaths reached almost 30 thousand this Sunday – receives aid without restrictions. His neighbor, who Add to the plague of the earthquake an endless twelve-year civil war and draconian sanctions such as the so-called Caesar’s Law approved by Donald Trump before leaving the government, it is assisted under certain conditions and only because international pressure has increased. Its fatalities exceeded 3,574 last weekend according to official figures.
The tragedy that occurred on February 6 would have left 5.3 million people homeless, only in Syrian territory, according to UNHCR. Martin Griffiths, The United Nations aid coordinator described what happened as “the worst event that has occurred in the region in the last century.” The UN already fears that the death toll will reach 50,000 and in this desolate context, there were US officials who justified why the Arab state was not assisted. Ned Price, spokesman for the State Department, declared a few hours after the tremors of 7.8 points on the Richter scale occurred that it was “counterproductive” to collaborate with “a regime that has brutalized the population.”
help from neighbors
While the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan receiving prompt assistance from his allies, President Bashar al-Assad, complained to the contrary: “The humanitarian situation does not exist in the West and, therefore, the politicization of what is happening in Syria is a natural matter for them.” The newspaper of that country Al Watan It showed on the cover how the head of state visited the victims of the earthquake in Aleppo and Lattakia, two cities in northwest Syria, together with his wife Asma, who was born in England. “I don’t deal with people through messages, but through a direct relationship. This is the nature of my relationship with the Syrian people,” he declared.
Al Assad has ruled since July 2000 after the death of his fatherHáfez al- Assad, who led the country since 1971. It remains in power thanks to the decisive support of Russia in the internal war that it has been waging for eleven years against different forces, the Islamic State and the Kurds, among others. Moscow is also assisting the victims of the earthquake in Syria with rescue teams, as most Arab countries began to do, including those that are strategic allies of the US such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the emirates of the Persian coup, in addition from Lebanon and Algeria.
For Washington, which from Trump to Joe Biden did not change its foreign policy towards Syria one iota, Al Assad continues to be affected by the Caesar Law – like several dozen officials around him – a policy of sanctions that affects the population before his government. There are 2,600 measures in force that the United States and its European allies took against Damascus. And although the White House announced that the blockade would be relaxed for 180 days to allow humanitarian aid, Syria considers it a set-up.
“The decision made by the Treasury Department is a copy of other previous decisions that they only seek to give a false humanitarian impression by stipulating supposed exemptions for humanitarian purposes, but the facts on the ground prove otherwise”, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Country punished by war and now an earthquake, also suffers an occupation. The US maintains military bases on its territory with the declared argument of supporting Kurdish groups fighting against ISIS and Al Assad in the region.
double standards
US and UN NGO aid entered southern Turkey through the Bab al Hawa border crossing. It just entered on Thursday the 9th, three days after the earthquake. According to Efe that assistance was received by the opposition of Al Assad. Other Western media mentioned that Syria could shake off the full weight of Caesar’s Law, unless it was to import oil or derivatives and that the environment of Al Assad benefited. But his government believes that this relaxation in sanctions is misleading.
That unilateral and extraterritorial regulation of the United States contains the restriction of supplying medicines, humanitarian aid, search and rescue teams, and even that planes unload supplies in territories controlled by Damascus. A quite impracticable fact at least in the capital. The main international airport “is under repair and maintenance following the Israeli air strike on the facility on January 2…” he reported. Sputnik.
“Syrians will not be fooled by the US administration’s attempt to embellish its image and evade its responsibility to hinder rescue efforts and support for those affected by the earthquake,” said a note from the foreign ministry in Damascus. The country also received the support of Anthony Guterres. The Secretary General of the United Nations called for the removal of sanctions due to the threat of a new humanitarian disaster. Nothing different was what the UN special rapporteur described on the ground, Alena Douhanwho after spending twelve days in Syria in late 2022 declared that she was “shocked by the pervasive humanitarian and human rights impact of unilateral coercive measures” by the United States and its allies.
Triple no
In a similar vein, the former British ambassador to Syria expressed himself, Peter Fordoften consulted by media that do not subscribe to the supposedly hegemonic version of the United States: “The United States, with its triple noBy not lifting the sanctions, not contacting and coordinating with the legitimate authorities, you are clearly behaving hypocritically and selfishly.”
Other political analysts affirm that the consequences of the earthquake could be an opportunity to bring Arab countries closer to Syria, especially those with which it had hostile ties. “The resumption of peaceful inter-Arab relations is what everyone hopes for, even without earthquakes or other natural catastrophes,” the Syrian said. Ghassan Youssef on February 7.
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