NGO calls for “urgent” relief assistance to opposition’s NW Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – NGO Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) called on Sunday for “urgent scale-up” of relief assistance for the Feb. 6 earthquake impacted people in the opposition-held areas in northwest Syria.
“An urgent increase in the volume of supplies is needed to match the scale of the humanitarian crisis,” the MSF reported.
Since the first day of the earthquake, relief assistance has been slowly “trickling” to the opposition-held areas, where the earthquake claimed lives of many.
Hakim Khaldi, head of mission for MSF in Syria said that during the 10 days after the earthquake, “the number of trucks that crossed the border into northwest Syria was lower than the average weekly number for 2022”.
Khaldi noted that “emergency stocks” were emptied in three days, stressing that the MSF teams supported “the health facilities in the area until they were exhausted.”
He added, “Aid is trickling in in negligible amounts for the moment.”
On the same day, the organization sent a convoy of 14 trucks carrying tents and winter kits from Turkey to northwestern Syria through al-Hammam crossing in Afrin region, northwestern Syria.
In addition, another MSF convoys are expected to arrive through the same border crossing soon to deliver medical and non-medical equipment.