Quake-survivors in NE Syria receive no assistance or compensation

Introduction

Quack-affected Residents of northeastern Syria complain that the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) has not compensate them, even after over two months since the earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey on February 6. The natural disaster caused great material and human damage, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Syria, especially in the northeastern region of the country.It has been difficult to deliver international aid to NE Syria since 2020, when the al-Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher) border crossing was closed through a Russian-Chinese veto in the UN Security Council.

The number of the earthquake victims in Syria, according to the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press, has reached 12,731 people, including 5,315 deaths and 7,416 injuries.

About 1,333 buildings and houses have collapsed. Among them 4,595 are partially damaged. Of these, 1,433 are in the AANES-held areas, in addition to at least seven collapsed structures.

Damage assessment without compensation

“The AANES has not provided us with any assistance so far. We evacuated the house after the specialized committee assessed the situation of the house, but we returned to it after a few days because we did not find a place to stay in,” said Ayman al-Muhammad, 43 years old, an earthquake victim from Manbij in northern Syria.

Al-Muhammad indicates that the AANES only assessed the damage to the homes of some of the city’s residents, and also informed some of those affected of the necessity of evacuating their houses without providing any emergency solution.

Al-Muhammad lives in constant fear that his damaged home will collapse onto him and his family’s heads, as high rents do not allow him to rent an alternative house.  

Al-Muhammad called on the AANES to find suitable solutions for the owners of quake-affected buildings and not to neglect the situation.

In turn, Khaled Al-Mousa, 39, a resident of al-Serb neighborhood, north of Manbij, says, “My house has been severely damaged. It is no longer suitable for living. For months, we have been living in a relative’s house.”

Since the first earthquake on February 6, al-Mousa and his family of four left their home.

“Despite the fact that months have passed since the disaster, the Autonomous Administration did not offer us any help or even promises to consider our situation,” al-Mousa said.

Al-Mousa complains about the difficult living situation, which hinder him from restoring his house. “We cannot stay in other people’s homes. The AANES must find a solution, even if it is temporary. It may allocate a camp for the earthquake victims or provide them with financial assistance to renovate their homes.”

Manbij is one of the cities of the AANES regions most affected by the earthquake after Kobani, the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods, and the Shahba region, where most of its residents, who live in multi-story buildings, resorted to tents. Some of them have stayed with their relatives, while those who have the financial means renovate their houses.

According to the People’s Municipality in Manbij, more than 125 buildings were damaged and about 14 buildings at risk of collapse were evacuated.

Kobani residents also did not receive any compensation since the city witnessed torrential rains after the earthquake, severely affecting the damaged houses.

Ahmad Baqi, 50, from Kobani, said that his three-room house was completely demolished, as its walls were cracked and its foundations had collapsed.

Baqi noted that one of the humanitarian organizations operating in the area documented the damages to his house, but never returned.

The Building Safety Assessment Committee of the Local Administration and Environment Authority decided to completely remove Baqi’s house. Nobody returned since then.

Baqi complains about the high prices of building materials that are sold in dollars, and lamented his inability to rebuild his house.

Baqi calls on the relevant organizations and the Autonomous Administration to help those affected by the earthquake and provide building materials to rebuild their destroyed homes, because they do not have the ability to do it themselves.

In turn, the 75-year old Khaled Baderkhan said that his son’s house on the third floor in the same neighborhood collapsed completely, while the other floors were evacuated due to cracks.

“No one helped us, no one provided us with assistance or cared about our situation,” Baderkhan said.

His son, Fawaz, and his family moved in with him. They live together in a single room, according to Baderkhan.

He explained that the AANES has not provided them with any support or assistance so far, although there is a committee that has documented the damages to the neighborhood.

Adham Abdo Ali, from the village of Khazina, in the countryside of Kobani and a father of six children, said,”Our house was damaged during the earthquake, and we did not find a place to go to. We asked for help, but no one cared about us, so we set up a tent in the yard of our damaged house. Ever since, we have been living under difficult circumstances, and our financial status does not enable us to restore the house. So we ask the NGOs and AANES to assess the situation and provide help.”

According to the Chamber of Engineers in Kobani, there are over 250 damaged buildings in the city and its countryside, including six buildings at risk of collapse.

The AANES established committees in areas under its control to inspect buildings damaged by the earthquake and stressed the necessity of demolishing the damaged houses that pose a threat to its inhabitants. However, the Administration did not demolish them. Only locals have removed and restored buildings.

According to the Office of Planning, Development and Statistics of the AANES, about 90 schools were recorded as damaged until the end of February, while the number of damaged buildings exceeded 650. The Office worked to restore schools, but did not mention any action taken for residential buildings.

The United Nations or countries that sponsored the initiative to provide assistance to those affected by the earthquake in Syria have not provided any relief to those affected in northeast Syria. The relief aid that entered the region was provided by the people of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. It was the first convoy to enter from the al-Yarubiyah (Tel Kojer) crossing since its closure in 2020.

The al-Ya’rubiyah border crossing is located on the Syrian- Iraqi border and was the most official crossing between the two countries prior to the Syrian conflict in 2011.

Prior to the crossing’s closure in 2019, which happened because of Russian-Chinese veto in the UNSC, 103 medical facilities were receiving aid across the crossing to northeastern Syria, according to a report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the Security Council in the beginning of 2020.

In 2014, the UNSC allowed aid deliveries into Syria through four border-crossings al-Ramtha crossing with Jordan, Bab al-Salameh, Bab al-Hawa with Turkey, and Tel Kocher with Iraq, that are not under the control of Syrian government. However, under pressure from Russia and China, the Security Council reduced them to one in the beginning of 2020, which is the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey.

On July 12, 2022, the UNSC approved to extend lifesaving aid deliveries into northwest Syria through Bab al-Hawa with Turkey for a further six months.

Since July 10, 2020, Bab al-Hawa has been the only crossing kept open to UN aid based on the resolution 2533 (2020), while the use of the others was curtailed.

Due to the earthquake, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to allow United Nations aid deliveries to opposition-held areas in northwest Syria through two border crossings with Turkey for three months, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Feb. 13.

The United Nations should reconsider the decision to close the only opening for access to humanitarian assistance in northeast Syria, which contains more than 72 permanent and makeshift camps for IDPs fleeing areas under the control of the Syrian government and the opposition, as well as those affected by the earthquake, whose status has not been assessed or were not provided with any assistance.