More than 3,500 people have lost their lives in the earthquake in Syria
The EU’s envoy to Syria said today that it was unfair to accuse the bloc of not offering enough help to Syrians after Monday’s deadly earthquake.
“It is completely unfair to be accused of not providing aid, when in fact we have been doing just that for more than a decade and doing so much more during the earthquake crisis,” Dan Stonescu said in a written statement to Reuters.
Stonescu said the EU and member states have raised more than 50 million euros to provide aid and support search and rescue missions in both government-held and rebel-held areas.
According to a provisional count, more than 3,500 people have died since Monday’s earthquake in Syria, where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by the 12-year war and millions displaced.
Because of the war, the country has been divided into different areas of control, making it difficult to provide aid after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
The Syrian government, which has been sanctioned by the West, has asked for UN help to deal with the fallout from the disaster and has stressed that any aid should be provided in coordination with Damascus.
A 30-ton shipment of humanitarian aid from Italy landed in Beirut on Saturday and is on its way to Damascus. This is the first package of European aid to Syria.
Stonescu said the EU encouraged member countries to offer aid and added that sanctions “do not prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid”.
He also emphasized that the EU foresees that humanitarian organizations can request an exemption from sanctions “for humanitarian reasons and I am willing to further clarify these possibilities”.
“The longer the debate about sanctions continues, the more honest actors who want to help are deterred and afraid to get involved in international humanitarian efforts,” he complained.
The EU is looking for “adequate guarantees” to ensure that aid offered reaches the vulnerable population, Stonescu noted, adding that the Syrian government has “a history of aid embezzlement.”
“We ask the authorities in Damascus not to politicize the delivery of humanitarian aid and to talk in good faith with all humanitarian partners and UN agencies to help civilians,” he concluded.
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