LONDON: The UK government has said that UK aid to Syria in the wake of last Monday’s earthquake is reaching the country despite difficulties.
Development Minister Andrew Mitchell told the BBC that sending aid to Syria is “much more difficult than Turkey, because it’s empty over there,” but Britain has been helping people in Syria “from the beginning.”
UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths tweeted on Sunday that people in Syria and Turkey felt “abandoned” by the international community, as little aid had arrived. “My duty and our obligation is to fix this failure as quickly as possible,” he said.
The delay in sending UK aid to Syria has been partly due to the civil war that crippled the country before the earthquake, its economy and infrastructure weak, and the regime in Damascus under Western sanctions.
Mitchell said Britain plans to finance major rescue operations in Syria, but the UN is only allowed access to one route in the country’s north-west – through the Turkish border – which has been hampered in efforts to deliver supplies. becoming an obstacle.
He said the UK would consider following the US in temporarily lifting sanctions on the Syrian regime where they could affect aid delivery, but that British supplies were getting through and that ministers would “do whatever we can”. He will see that help reaches those who are suffering.
“Where sanctions stop us in any way, we will try to remove them,” he said. “But for the moment we have been able to get what we want. And that is the main thing.”
So far more than 28,000 people have been killed and many thousands injured in last Monday’s earthquakes, leaving even more homeless and without access to shelters, clean water, food, electricity or medical supplies.
The World Health Organization estimates that 26 million people have been affected, with more deaths expected in the coming days as hope for survivors dwindles and weather conditions drop below zero.
A public UK appeal for money for people in Turkey and Syria has raised almost £53 million ($63.9 million) in just 48 hours, including donations from the government and the royal family.
The government also announced it would provide an additional £8 million in emergency aid to both countries to buy supplies, and £3 million to the White Helmets, a Syrian volunteer rescue group.