The High Commissioner for Human Rights, the main human rights official at the UN, called on Friday for “an immediate ceasefire” in Syria to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the victims of the earthquakes that devastated part of the country on Monday and killed no less than 3,377 people, according to reports from Damascus and the White Helmets.
High Commissioner, Austrian Volker Türk “calls for an immediate ceasefire in Syria and full respect for human rights and humanitarian law obligations so that aid can reach everyone”, reads a tweet. of the High Commission. “In this terrible time in Turkey and Syria, we call for the urgent delivery of assistance to ALL those in need”, insists the United Nations body.
A single crossing point for humanitarian aid between Turkey and Syria
The civil war that has been tearing Syria apart since 2011 has complicated access for humanitarian aid, particularly to areas under rebel control in the north-west of the country. For the time being, most of the aid intended for this area comes from Turkey and must pass through Bab al-Hawa, the only authorized crossing point between Syria and its Turkish neighbor. The damage caused by the earthquakes to the road infrastructure on the Turkish side makes the delivery of supplies very difficult.
The United Nations has repeatedly called on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to open other crossing points to speed up relief for the millions of people affected by the earthquakes, many of whom were already living in very precarious conditions even before the natural disaster.