UN chief eager for more aid crossings into Syria after earthquake

Aid is already being delivered by non-UN relief agencies through other points of entry

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AFP

Follow the latest on the earthquake in Turkey

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that he hoped the UN could use more than one border crossing to deliver aid to Syria, after one of the most powerful earthquakes struck the region.

Mr Guterres said many non-UN relief agencies were already delivering through other crossings.

"I will be very happy if, in relation to the UN, there will be the possibility to do it also in as many crossings as possible," he said.

Mr Guterres said he asked humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths to travel to the region this weekend to assess needs and see how the UN can best direct its support.

Mr Griffiths is expected to visit Gaziantep in southern Turkey, Aleppo in northwestern Syria, and the capital, Damascus.

Mr Guterres alluded to the UN Security Council’s ability to increase the number of cross borders into Syria and urged for humanitarian access to “not be politicised”.

A young girl was rescued by an Emirati team, along with her brother, sister and mother. All photos: Wam

The Emirati search and rescue teams are part of Operation Gallant Knight/2

The family was pulled from the rubble beneath what used to be their house

The rescue operation lasted more than five hours

The Emirati search and rescue teams are assisting in finding people trapped beneath the rubble

The boy rescued along with his two sisters and mother

Search and rescue teams from all over the world have rushed to assist after the earthquake

Since Monday, thousands of buildings have collapsed, many in the middle of the night, leaving people with little chance to escape

As time goes on, the urgency of finding victims trapped under the rubble intensifies

"Now is the time to explore all possible avenues to get aid and personnel into Syria following the earthquake," he said. "We must put people first.”

Stephane Dujarric, the Secretary General's spokesman, said on Thursday that Mr Guterres planned to start discussions with Security Council members about expanding access and including more border crossings.

Bab Al Hawa crossing is the only entry into the north-west region of Syria that does not cross government-held territories.

The cross-border mechanism allows the UN and its partners to provide aid without the authorisation of the Syrian government.

But Damascus opposes sending humanitarian aid directly to opposition-held areas of north-west Syria, contending that all aid should go through it.

Charles Lister, the director of the Syria programme at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told The National that the regime’s demand that any disaster relief comes through Damascus was probably linked to the fact that “four days on, none has arrived to north-western Syria cross-border or cross-line."

"That no longer appears to be a coincidence".

Mr Lister said that with the UN’s resources, the world body was more than “capable of surging assistance into the north-west, but it’s more concerned about keeping Damascus happy than rescuing the lives of Syrians in Idlib".

When the Security Council authorised the mechanism in July 2014, it approved four border crossings.

In July 2020, China and Russia vetoed a UN resolution that would have kept two border-crossing points open for humanitarian aid to the north-western part of the country.

A few days later, aid delivery was restricted to the Bab Al Hawa crossing for a year.

Russia then pressed for a further reduction, finally agreeing to a six-month extension, with another six months contingent on a report from Mr Guterres on progress in deliveries.

Russia has repeatedly said the cross-border aid deliveries that began in 2014 were meant to be temporary.

The brother of a survivor Gokhan Ugurlu, 35, who was pulled out of the rubble in Hatay, Turkey, reacts as a rescuer looks on. Reuters

A woman walks past flattened buildings in a street in Hatay province, Turkey. Reuters

A member of the army stands amid rubble in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A man reacts while sitting outside a tent of a temporary accommodation centre set up on a football pitch in Gaziantep, Turkey. Reuters

Earthquake survivors walk on a street in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters

A White Helmets volunteer holds a rescued cat in the rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

A Syrian boy, who lost his family in the deadly earthquake, stands amid the rubble of his family home in Jindayris. AFP

Rescuers sit by a bonfire in Hatay, Turkey. AFP

A Turkish soldier walks among destroyed buildings in Hatay. AFP

Relatives of Palestinian doctor Yusuf Darabeh, who died when the earthquake hit Turkey, comfort each other. AP Photo

People stand by a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey. AP Photo

A child, injured in the earthquake, is treated at hospital in Bab Al Hawah, Syria. AP Photo

Vehicles containing aid from Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) on the Iraqi side of the Iraq-Syria border. Reuters

Rescuers carry Muhammed Alkanaas, 12, to an ambulance after five days under the rubble in Antakya, Turkey. AP

Romanian firefighters load a Turkey-bound train with emergency aid near Bucharest. AP

Collapsed buildings in Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

Abdulkerim Nano, 67, is rescued after five days under the rubble in in Kahramanmaras, Turkey

A Turkish rescue worker checks a collapsed building in Adiyaman. AP

Rescuers in Adiyaman, Turkey. AP

A resident in front of his collapsed building in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras. AFP

Syrian refugees shelter in a public market in the Islahiye district of Gaziantep, Turkey. AP

A family wait for the bodies of their relatives to be recovered in Antakya, Turkey. AP

A woman plays with a sniffer dog in Antakya, Turkey. AP

Collapsed buildings in Antakya, Turkey. AP

A Syrian woman takes care of her nephew Hasan Goayid, eight, in Islahiye district, Gaziantep. AP

A Syrian child in a tent in the Islahiye district. AP

Collapsed buildings in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras. AFP

Emirati rescuers sift through the rubble of a collapsed building in the regime-controlled town of Jableh, northwest of the Syrian capital. AFP

Volunteers at the Emirates Red Crescent 'Bridges of Goodness' campaign at the South Hall, Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City. Leslie Pableo for The National

Martin Griffiths, UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, in Maras, Turkey. Reuters

Rescuers give water to a dog after a rescue operation in Hatay, southern Turkey. AP

A deadly earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6. EPA

Fissures from the earthquake have crumpled the highway near Islahiyeh in Southern Turkey. Matt Kynaston / The National

A Kurdish charity's aid convoy enters Syria through the Bab Al Salama crossing with Turkey, in the northern province of Aleppo. AFP

A rescuer with a sniffer dog searches in a destroyed building in Antakya, southern Turkey. AFP

A makeshift camp erected in a stadium in the city of Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey. EPA

A woman mourns Turkish Cypriot victims of the earthquake, during a funeral procession in the Turkish occupied area in north-east coastal city of Famagusta, Cyprus. AP

Rescuers carry survivor Rabia Ofkeli, 27, from the rubble in Hatay, southern Turkey. Reuters

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad visits Aleppo university hospital. Reuters

Members of the Swiss rescue team with a four-month-old girl, Abir, who was pulled out from the rubble in Antakya. AFP

Survivors at a hospital in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Members of the White Helmets during the fifth day of rescue operations in Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

Indonesian Muslims perform a prayer for the victims at Istiqlal grand mosque in Jakarta. EPA

Emergency personnel conduct a rescue operation to save Melda, 16, from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay, southern Turkey. AFP

The earthquake caused a railbed overpass to collapse in Nurdagi, Turkey. AFP

A framed picture on the cracked wall of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, south-eastern Turkey. EPA

A coastal area of Iskenderun, Turkey, was flooded after the quake. Reuters

A sheet of paper lies among the rubble in Elbistan. AP

Relief supplies destined for earthquake survivors in Turkey, at a warehouse in Schoenefeld, near Berlin, Germany. AP

Rescuers search for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, three days after the earthquake struck. AFP

Rescuers with a child pulled out from under the rubble. Reuters

Rescuers rest on top of rubble as an aircraft drops water over a fire at the port in the quake-stricken town of Iskenderun. Reuters

A rescue worker in Kahramanmaras, three days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck south-east Turkey. AFP

People try to pull out a dog trapped beneath the rubble in Iskenderun, Turkey. Reuters

Lorries carrying humanitarian aid wait at Bab Al Hawa crossing on the Turkey-Syria border. Reuters

Syrians warm up by a fire outside a makeshift tent near the rebel-held town of Jindayris in Syria. AFP

A dam on the Orontes river in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province collapsed after the quake, flooding the neighbourhood. AFP

The sails of the Sydney Opera House lit with a black ribbon in remembrance and mourning of the earthquake victims. Getty

Smoke billows amid an expanse of collapsed and damaged buildings in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Dogs of the German International Search and Rescue team rest between operations in Kirikhan, Turkey. Reuters

White Helmets volunteers rescue a child trapped beneath the rubble in Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

People gather to collect food and humanitarian aid in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras, south-east Turkey. EPA

The statue of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, is surrounded by damaged buildings in Adiyaman province. AP

A plane carrying humanitarian air sent for earthquake survivors lands in Damascus. Mahmoud Rida / The National

Motorway fractured by earthquake causes car crash near Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Matt Kynaston / The National

A tent camp has been set up at a stadium in south-eastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras to shelter families whose homes were destroyed in the quake. AFP

A displaced Syrian woman rests under a tree in a field on the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Jindayris. AFP

The UN is facing enormous challenges trying to get aid into Syria.

Four million people inside the country rely entirely on this aid for basic humanitarian needs.

The world body said damage to roads and other infrastructure in southern Turkey stalled aid from reaching north-west Syria, an area already devastated by 12 years of conflict.

Syria’s UN envoy, Geir Pedersen said in Geneva on Thursday that the UN was helping to organise emergency teams and relief operations.

“We need to make sure now is that there are no political hindrances to the aid needed getting to the people that are affected," Mr Pedersen said.

"And this was my message today … and it will be my message indeed to the Syrian authorities.”

So far more than 19,000 people have been killed across Syria and Turkey, and thousands more are feared trapped under the rubble.