– I have no words to describe the crisis Syria is in, says Mustafa Aljazi to news. The doctor at the Al-Amal hospital in the border town of Salqin is brought to tears when he talks about the conditions in the Idlib district, in the north-west of the country. Aljazi tells about hospital staff who work on blast, about patients who have to lie on the floor. About the lack of blood, medical equipment and dialysis machines. Patients have to lie on mattresses on the floor at the Al-Amal hospital in Saqin, Syria. Photo: Ahmad Hajj Ibrahim / Al-Amal hospital Medical crisis The situation in Syria has been chaotic since 2011. At the top of a 12-year civil war came the world’s deadliest earthquake in over ten years. While Turkey has been offered a lot of international help – the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that more than 95 countries have offered to help – Syria is more or less left to fend for itself. The situation in Idlib province, where the opponents of President Bashar al-Assad are still in control, is the worst. At least 360 buildings collapsed during the earthquake. More than 1,800 people died. 5,000 are injured and another thousand are still under the ruins. In Salqin, where the Al-Amal hospital is located, many houses have collapsed. Photo: MOHAMMED AL-RIFAI / AFP – There is a medical crisis here, says Mustafa Aljazi. – Several of those who have been trapped under buildings have been crushed and suffered damage to their kidneys, they need dialysis quickly. 30 people have already died because they did not get help in time, says Aljazi. Aljazi works for WATAN, an organization which, through the Norwegian aid organization NORWAC, supports the Al-Amal hospital. – In the days after the earthquake, 1,000 emergency patients came to this hospital alone. Another hospital received 2,200 patients. – There are only three hospitals in this area with half a million inhabitants, says the doctor. SUPPORT FROM Norway: The aid organization NORWAC has promised financial support for the work in north-west Syria. Photo: Ahmad Hajj Ibrahim / Al-Amal hospital They need everything Bilal Al Jabri is the country manager for Syria for NORWAC. He says the situation is critical. – The area in the north-west of Syria was already badly hit before the earthquake. People here have been through 12 years of war. The situation is very bad, he says. Bilal Al Jabri is NORWAC’s country manager in Syria. By day, he works as a senior physician at Akershus University Hospital. Photo: Private The UN’s special envoy to Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, is in agreement. He receives daily reports from the country. – They need absolutely everything. There is a lack of electricity, petrol, food, heating – everything that can help keep life going. In addition, it is winter and snow, so it is a critical situation, says Pedersen to news. The UN’s special envoy to Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, says the UN is in contact with both the Syrian government and the rebels to get help. Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi / AP The Norwegian diplomat says that the aid work – or the lack of it – reflects the divided country. – Syria is divided into four; where one part is controlled by the Syrian government, one part by the UN-listed terrorist organization HTS, one by Turkish groups and the Turkish army and one by Syrian Kurds. – The areas affected by the earthquake are the areas controlled by the government and HTS, explains Pedersen. A THOUSAND EMERGENCY PATIENTS IN TWO DAYS: The staff at the Al-Amal hospital have been working hard since the earthquake on Monday. Photo: Ahmad Hajj Ibrahim / Al-Amal hospital The first truck trains have arrived The only way for international emergency aid organizations into the area of HTS has been through Turkey and the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. It has been closed because vegans around were destroyed in the earthquake. – All supplies of both food and medicine have come via Turkey. Our partners have been badly affected by the earthquake. – Some have lost their lives, some have lost family members. Those who usually help us now need help themselves, says Bilal Al Jabri in NORWAC. On Thursday afternoon, the wagons were partially repaired so that the first wagon trains with emergency aid could cross the border. Six fully loaded UN trailers drove through the border crossing. This was emergency aid that was delayed by the earthquake. Friday morning, 14 new trailers followed. At the same time, Verda’s food program says that they are about to run out of emergency aid, so it is urgent to get more help across the border crossing. The first wagon trains from the UN passed through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing on Thursday afternoon. Photo: OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP Sanctions not in the way – The Syrian government has concentrated on getting help into the area they themselves control, says UN diplomat Geir O. Pedersen. The cities of Aleppo and Hama were also badly hit by the earthquake. – The regime receives help from its allies, Russia and Iran, in addition to some Arab states. Aid will be flown into Aleppo and Damascus. But they also need much more help and assistance, emphasizes Pedersen. In the Idlib region, only the White Helmets carry out the rescue work, and that without proper equipment. They have desperately asked the international community for help. Syria is subject to international sanctions due to the brutal civil war. But the sanctions are not the problem now, according to Pedersen. – The biggest challenge is logistics. Both Europe, the United States and Arab countries are keen to help. Aid workers from the White Helmets are currently the only ones in place in Salqin. Photo: MOHAMMED AL-RIFAI / AFP Both sides plead As the UN’s special envoy, Geir O. Pedersen has been in contact with the warring parties, both the regime in Damascus and those who rule in Idlib. – The message from us has been that they must put politics aside, so that we can concentrate on the earthquake. Everyone must ensure that help can come in through the fastest channels and the vegan ones that are open, says Pedersen. Today came the first, little breakthrough. – I was told early today that we will receive two large deliveries of aid from the government-controlled area into Idlib, says Pedersen. The organization NORWAC has requested financial emergency aid from Norway and received approval from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. – We don’t know how much we will get, but we are promised support soon, says Bilal Al Jabri.
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