Türkiye - Syria Earthquake: The Shaking of Ground and Shaking of Humanity

By Sarah Tayara / GICJ

Trembling Grounds and Colossal Catastrophe

6th February 2023. 4.17 am. A mere 40 seconds was all it took for a lifetime impact on millions of lives in the area. All it took was a matter of seconds for living bodies to become corpses. For buildings to become rubble. For lives to become shattered. In the early morning, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck south-eastern Türkiye and northwest Syria. A series of aftershocks, one of which was almost as large as the original earthquake itself, ensured that those who managed to survive the first quake were brought to their demise in the second. The impact of the earthquake has been colossal. Just over a week later, the death toll surpassed 44,000 across both Syria and Türkiye. The actual number is likely to be much higher with lifeless bodies being found under the rubble every day. 10 days later, a third earthquake of magnitude 5.2 hit Syria and Türkiye, with more buildings collapsing and lives being lost.

To say that the earthquake impacted an area otherwise living peacefully would be false. The earthquake shook the ground of a country that has been shaking for 12 long years. For over a decade, barrel bombs, airstrikes and missiles by the Syrian government and its allies has meant that hundreds of thousands of Syrian lives have already been lost. Schools and hospitals had already been brought to the ground. Homes had already been shattered. Lives had long been lost amongst the rubble. As for those who had so far been able to survive all this, they have now also been betrayed by the land beneath their feet in an earthquake that brought their already shaky foundations down to the ground.

Natural Disaster with Unnatural Consequences

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, close to 9 million people in Syria have been affected by the earthquake. The majority of those affected live in northwest Syria, an area that has been suffocating for years due to the 12-year conflict. More than 4.2 million people have been affected in Aleppo, 3 million have been affected in Idlib, and more than 7,400 buildings have been completely or partially destroyed. 
While nothing could have been done to stop the earthquake, seismologists (earth scientists) who have studied the area have long considered Türkiye to be a tectonically active area prone to earthquakes of such magnitude. Therefore, the colossal destruction was not only a result of the quake, but also of the lack of preparation and existing circumstances of the areas affected by it. Even before the earthquake, 4.1 million people, the majority of which were internally displaced, needed aid in northwest Syria. The earthquake therefore exacerbated the humanitarian needs of an area that had long been suffocating. It caused thousands of buildings which had withstood years of war to tumble. It resulted in war-surviving families being buried alive. The earthquake has made a nation that is already strongly reliant on humanitarian aid even more vulnerable.

The result was paradoxical. In northwest Syria, Syrians displaced from their homes are once again displaced from their camps. In Türkiye, Syrian refugees are once again seeking refuge from their new homes. Thus, while the disaster itself was natural, the consequences were largely man-made. Illustrating this only requires a quick comparison of the impact of the Türkiye Syria earthquake to those occurring in Japan or Los Angeles. In the latter countries, earthquakes
are continuously accounted for and resilient methods of building homes and infrastructure are continuously implemented. Of course, in the face of war and economic instability, a discussion of earthquake resistant buildings seems fanciful at best. To a certain extent it is. The prospect of rebuilding the area which has been destroyed by war and the earthquake together is difficult enough. How can we discuss building technologically advanced earthquake resistant homes when buildings are collapsing from war? How can we discuss preventing deaths from a future earthquake when millions of Syrians consider access to their most basic right of food, healthcare, shelter, and sanitation to be a luxury? In the status quo, we cannot. However, it is important to acknowledge that the colossal impact of the earthquake was not inevitable. The reality is that the earthquake struck an area which has been suffocating for years. An area in which 90% of the population live below the poverty line and more than 4.2 million of the 4.5 million residents depend on humanitarian aid to survive. Just mere hours after the earthquake, it was reported that Syrian government forces launched a shelling attack on Marea, a badly affected area in northwest Syria. Such attacks by the government have continued, targeting an area already on its knees. Describing the hardship in northwest Syria as merely a result of a 40 second earthquake is to deny a war that has resulted in one of the most devastating humanitarian tragedies of the 21 st century. It is to forget the death
that ensued from military bombardment against its own people. It is to silence the voices that have been calling out for a solution to the tragedy that shook grounds and livelihoods long before the early mornings of 6 th February. Yet, it seems to be the earthquake that has triggered an uproar surrounding the delivery of aid into the affected area of northwest Syria. This is only natural, as, while the earthquake devastated Syrians and Turkish people alike, the prevention of aid entering into Syria turned a natural disaster into a catastrophe.

Humanitarian Aid – A Politicised Concept
Many of those caught in the epicentre of the earthquake in Türkiye were Syrian refugees. With lives undoubtedly having disintegrated across both nations, the Turkish government’s response towards its country was incomparable to that of Syria’s. In Türkiye , President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to quickly begin rebuilding the destroyed areas and pay 1 year rent for those not wishing to stay in tents. Of course, much more must be done. However, in Syria, the country’s long-standing dictator, Bashar Al-Assad, who has himself been the cause of hundreds of thousands of deaths in the country’s 12-year civil war, has exploited the disaster as a means of political gain. Instead of launching a rescue operation, the responsibility of rescue missions was upheld by the Syrian Civil Defence, otherwise known as the White Helmets, and Molham Team. While the rescue mission saved thousands of lives,they alone cannot recover the situation. Dealing with such large-scale destruction requires commitment and support not only from Syria’s government, but also from rapid international aid. This is particularly the case considering the socioeconomic state of Syria due to the conflict. 

However, Assad’s government capitalised on Syrian suffering as a means of reasserting itself into the international political sphere. Within hours of the earthquake, the government launched a disinformation campaign, attributing the lack of humanitarian aid delivery into northwest Syria to the economic sanctions imposed on the country. Such a campaign, however, is fundamentally untrue. Rather, it is mere propaganda, orchestrated by Assad’s government to relieve itself from the sanctions, intended to stop Assad’s government committing war crimes against the Syrian people. Indeed, while some argue that the economic sanctions imposed on the country are ineffective in stopping the Syrian government and more harmful to civilians than the government, it is fundamentally incorrect to attribute a lack of aid delivery to the sanctions. Humanitarian aid is exempt from such sanctions, with the US Caesar Sanctions explicitly stating that the “Caesar Act and other United States Syria sanctions do not target humanitarian assistance for Syrians or impede our stabilisation efforts”. By issuing a 3 month ‘Syria General License’, relieving some of the sanctions on Syria, the US has given credibility to Assad’s false narrative. Any aid impediment is a direct result of Assad’s aid restriction which, according to the OCHA, Assad’s government has been practising since 2012 as a means of exerting political pressure on opposition-held areas. Assad has refrained from declaring a state of emergency, as doing so would result in international aid entering through means external to his government, thus resulting in a loss of control and a lack of ability to steal donations. This tactic of politicisation of humanitarian aid for politician gain and power has long been implemented throughout the conflict. For over 12 years, only one border for humanitarian aid has been established by the United Nations Security Council, with the Security Council meeting every 6 months to debate whether the resolution permitting this border should be extended. However, with 4.1 million people in the region dependent on this aid as their only lifeline, the Security Council should not be contemplating whether they should prohibit the border, but rather discussing how to widen the scope of aid delivery. Therefore, while the humanitarian aid response to the earthquake has been abysmal, it has shed light on what people in northwest Syria have been experiencing for years. The impediment of aid is further restricted into northwest Syria due to the area being under the control of rebel groups such as Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, and any aid that is being directed to the northwest from Damascus is being withheld. The United Nations refrained from sending cross-border humanitarian aid before receiving a greenlight from Bashar Al-Assad who, on the 13 th February 2022, more than 1 week after the quake, agreed to temporarily open two extra borders for aid delivery. Assad insisted that any other humanitarian aid must first pass through Damascus which will distribute the aid to those in need. However, insisting on this is a clear message from his government: the international community must either engage with them or leave Syrian people to suffer.

After 12 years of committing war crimes against its people, however, it is difficult to fathom how the government is a legitimate source of Syrian recovery. Aid workers directly distributing aid on the ground have been consistently interrogated, harassed and intimidated by government officials in an attempt to restrict aid through any means outside of Damascus. At checkpoints, the Syrian army is ceasing basic aid supplies to sell as commodities and intercepting monetary donations for personal and political gain. In 2016, a bombardment campaign was launched against Aleppo by Assad backed by Russia in an effort to take the city from opposition forces. How can this very government now be trusted with the humanitarian relief efforts for the same area? Thus, while the temporary
opening of two further borders is indeed a positive, it is most definitely not a win. Rather, it represents the bare minimum that must be done in response to the humanitarian tragedy. Waiting for Assad’s approval to send in life saving aid, designates his government, whether intentionally or not, as the ultimate authority over the destiny of millions of civilians in non-regime held areas. It is allowing Assad to be the representative of the people he has  oppressed for over 12 years.

Moving Forward – Actions over Words
The UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief admitted that the UN had so far failed the people in northwest Syria. Unsurprisingly, the people of Syria feel abandoned. Of course, this is not the first time that they feel forgotten. In the 12 year civil war, the world became inured to their suffering. Global bodies and nation states are often quick to offer their condolences, however there has been no true commitment to putting an end to over a decade of Syrian tragedy. The Under Secretary general referred to the earthquake as a true litmus test for global generosity, solidarity and diplomacy. However, while the $397million Syria appeal is the first step in providing the aid for basic survival needs, global generosity and solidarity is not enough. What are those, trapped and lost under the rubble going to do with just words of solidarity? What do those who need urgent medical attention do with just words of solidarity? What do those, who are out looking for their loved ones in the freezing conditions, do with the just words of solidarity? 

Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ)calls upon the United Nations to ensure the continuation of concrete action in terms of the delivery of humanitarian aid. We call upon the United Nations Security Council to move away from a discussion on whether the opening of the humanitarian border should be extended, towards a discussion on how aid can reach the largest number of people possible. As part of these discussions, we urge the Council to open further borders for aid delivery, and not to depend on the Assad regime’s approval to provide lifesaving aid to the people of Syria who need us now more than ever. The earthquake has attracted global attention to those suffering in northwest Syria. However, their plight is not one which started on 6 th February, but rather one that has been ongoing for over a decade. While global action has been too late for some, it is not too late for all.

Indeed, under the rubble bodies have been crushed. However, under the rubble, life has also emerged with baby Aya being born under colossal destruction. GICJ urges the international community to see the birth of Aya as a glimmer of hope – as one more opportunity to truly stand by the people of Syria. Doing so requires moving beyond mere words of solidarity to a true commitment of putting their humanitarian needs first. The world’s silence to Syrian suffering has gone on for too long. It is paramount that borders are kept open and that aid remains to be sent in to help those whose lives depend on it. Syrians have been suffocating for over a decade. We call upon the international community not to let the earthquake be a moment of empathy, but rather a drive towards an irreversible momentum of relief of suffering of the Syrian people before we truly are too late.