No excuse for aid delay after earthquake, says former Syrian opposition member

US and EU officials confirm that sanctions on Damascus include exemptions for humanitarian aid

Rubble of collapsed houses in the town of Harim, near Idlib. EPA

Follow the latest on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

The United Nations must take responsibility for the delay in delivering aid to Syrians following the deadly earthquake on Monday that has killed more than 19,000 people in Turkey and Syria, a former Syrian opposition member said on Thursday.

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has blamed the renewed suffering of his people on western sanctions, but that is deliberately misleading, Yahya Al Aridi told The National.

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake shocked the region on Monday morning, demolishing thousands of buildings in Turkey and Syria and affecting the lives of millions of people.

Since then aid to Syria has been delayed due to political and logistical challenges. However, the UN said late on Thursday that the first shipment of relief will be delivered to Syria four days after the disaster hit the region. So far, a small convoy of just six lorries has made it across the border.

Damage to roads and other infrastructure in southern Turkey has reportedly stalled the delivery of aid to northern Syria, an area already devastated by 12 years of conflict.

“The UN actually is to be blamed for the delay of the urgent and quick rescue of those people,” said Mr Al Aridi, a former spokesman for the Syrian Negotiation Commission and member of the opposition's constitutional committee.

Mr Al Aridi said that Turkey and Syria did not have the final word on how or when aid can be distributed given the urgency of the crisis.

Humanitarian workers and rescue teams say delays will cost lives, as local rescue crews struggle to pull people from the rubble and find housing for survivors amid freezing winter weather.

“This is a human tragedy that everyone should be on alert for and rushing to the rescue of innocent people; they are not terrorists,” he said.

Russia and Syria say there is a risk that aid could go to extremist militias who control the governorate of Idlib.

Russia has tried to limit aid through the Bab Al Hawa crossing while threatening to veto a UN Security Council Resolution that permits the use of the entry point.

International aid agencies insist that life-saving humanitarian support has been successfully distributed to millions people in northern Syria for years without assisting extremists and that any slowing or halt to aid will cause a catastrophic loss of life.

Mr Al Aridi, who left the constitutional commission late last year, said there are still people under the rubble screaming for help.

Geir Pederson, the UN envoy to Syria, said the UN had been assured the first assistance would cross from Turkey into Syria on Thursday and reassured all sides that there would be no political hindrance.

Mr Al Aridi said: “During the speeches he makes to the UN Security Council or to the UN in general he never mentions the one who is obstructing the process and is not pointing the blame. Syrians are fed up with this,” He added that he left the constitutional committee as a result of this.

Syria is 'not under sanctions'

Mr Al Aridi noted that not all of Syria is under sanctions and they have only been placed on individuals associated with Assad's regime.

Officials from Assad's regime and their supporters have said that US economic sanctions have been preventing vital relief from entering the country.

More than four million people are in need of help in north-western Syria.

“Syria is not under sanctions, you can import medicine and food, the sanctions are on people who were proven to be murderers so they cannot buy military equipment to kill people,” he said.

Both the US and EU have exemptions on sanctions for humanitarian aid.

A senior American official said: “We would like to clarify that the US sanctions include exceptions that do not prevent the delivery of humanitarian, medical, food and other aid to the Syrian people, and we will not prevent any country from providing such aid.”

“For our part, we will continue to provide assistance to the Syrian people,” a State Department official said.

The US said on Tuesday it was working with partners to provide relief but would stand firm against working with the Damascus government.

“Funds, of course, go to the Syrian people, not to the regime. That won't change,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters.