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Thank you very much for the article and for encouraging colleagues to donate for this noble cause to help those who were affected by the earthquake in Southern Turkey and North West of Syria.
It is important for all of us as NHS staff to rationalise our donation according to the need.
Turkey is a sovereign state with a strong economy, the government there has been leading the response in coordination with the various relief organisations including the Turkish red crescent, which can be considered as a neutral organisation operating all over Turkey.
However, the situation in Syria is different. There has been a 12 years of war. The healthcare systems have been weakened and indeed targeting healthcare facilities and personnel has been used as weapon in particular on the areas outside of the control of the Syrian government. International organisations, such the physician for human rights, has long been documenting these attacks on health care in Syria since 2011 (please see https://phr.org/issues/health-under-attack/attacks-in-syria), in what has been described by public health professionals and academics as a weaponization of healthcare by the Syrian government and its allies (Please see this Lancet paper on this issue: https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(17)30741-9/fulltext#:~:text=The%20weaponisation%20of%20health%20care%E2%80%94a%20strategy%20of%20using%20people's,facilities%20deliberately%20and%20systematically%20attacked).
Syria is practically a divided country with at least three territories of control, where most of the north, the north west and the north east of Syria, outside of the control of the Syrian Government. The Syrian Red Crescent (that are promoted in the BMJ article) does have no presence in the North West of Syria and therefore does not offer any aid or service in the North West of Syria. In addition, the Syrian Red Crescent is known to work closely with the Syrian government and there is a question about the independence of the work of the Syrian Red Crescent. There have been several reports that looked at these close working relationship between the Syrian Red Crescent and the Syrian Government (pleas see: https://jusoor.co/en/details/the-syrian-arab-red-crescent%E2%80%A6the-re... and https://syriaaccountability.org/inside-the-syrian-arab-red-crescent/ ). Given the above, there is a concern about the manipulation of the humanitarian aid.
The North West of Syria which is outside the control of the Syrian Government has been the hardest hit area by the earthquake. There are over 4 million people living there mostly women and children and more than 90% of them depend on aid.
There has been mismatch between the aid delivered and the scale of devastation that caused by the earthquake to the North West of Syria. Mr Martin Griffith, The UN Relief Chief, admitted that the UN had failed the people in the North West of Syria. The Aid that was delivered to the Syrian Government Controlled areas far much more than the one which has been been delivered to the North West of Syria (areas outside of the control of the Syrian Government) although the North West was far much more devastated by the earthquake. The areas under the control of the Syrian government was destroyed during by aerial bombardment and shelling long time prior to the earthquake when Russian and Syrian forces recaptured these areas such as eastern site of Aleppo. With regard to the aid delivered to the Syrian government controlled areas, an ex UAE official mentioned that 33 countries sent aid to the Syrian government controlled areas and 50% of the aid came from the UAE on 130 flights (with average 3000 tonnes per flight) in addition UN aid and pledging.
Although we believe that aid should go wherever it is needed and humanitarian and medical aid should not be politicised, we believe that aid should be rationalised.
In summary, we must encourage donation directly to organisations working on the ground in most affected areas in Syria - often local organisations with low overheads & trusted by local communities. In the North West of Syria there are many trusted organisations such as Action for Humanity (UK based), Hand In Hand for Aid and Development (UK based), Syrian British Medical Society (UK based) UOSSM international , SAMS (US based) among others. They are all reputable and will ensure donations are utilised effectively
I am happy to be contacted should you feel necessary
Dr Abdullah Mawas
Chairman of Syrian British Medical Society
Competing interests:
No competing interests
04 March 2023
Abdullah Mawas
Consultant Gastroenterologist at West Suffolk Hospital and Cambridge University Hospitals,
Re: NHS staff join aid workers in Turkey
Dear Editor
Thank you very much for the article and for encouraging colleagues to donate for this noble cause to help those who were affected by the earthquake in Southern Turkey and North West of Syria.
It is important for all of us as NHS staff to rationalise our donation according to the need.
Turkey is a sovereign state with a strong economy, the government there has been leading the response in coordination with the various relief organisations including the Turkish red crescent, which can be considered as a neutral organisation operating all over Turkey.
However, the situation in Syria is different. There has been a 12 years of war. The healthcare systems have been weakened and indeed targeting healthcare facilities and personnel has been used as weapon in particular on the areas outside of the control of the Syrian government. International organisations, such the physician for human rights, has long been documenting these attacks on health care in Syria since 2011 (please see https://phr.org/issues/health-under-attack/attacks-in-syria), in what has been described by public health professionals and academics as a weaponization of healthcare by the Syrian government and its allies (Please see this Lancet paper on this issue: https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(17)30741-9/fulltext#:~:text=The%20weaponisation%20of%20health%20care%E2%80%94a%20strategy%20of%20using%20people's,facilities%20deliberately%20and%20systematically%20attacked).
Syria is practically a divided country with at least three territories of control, where most of the north, the north west and the north east of Syria, outside of the control of the Syrian Government. The Syrian Red Crescent (that are promoted in the BMJ article) does have no presence in the North West of Syria and therefore does not offer any aid or service in the North West of Syria. In addition, the Syrian Red Crescent is known to work closely with the Syrian government and there is a question about the independence of the work of the Syrian Red Crescent. There have been several reports that looked at these close working relationship between the Syrian Red Crescent and the Syrian Government (pleas see: https://jusoor.co/en/details/the-syrian-arab-red-crescent%E2%80%A6the-re... and https://syriaaccountability.org/inside-the-syrian-arab-red-crescent/ ). Given the above, there is a concern about the manipulation of the humanitarian aid.
The North West of Syria which is outside the control of the Syrian Government has been the hardest hit area by the earthquake. There are over 4 million people living there mostly women and children and more than 90% of them depend on aid.
There has been mismatch between the aid delivered and the scale of devastation that caused by the earthquake to the North West of Syria. Mr Martin Griffith, The UN Relief Chief, admitted that the UN had failed the people in the North West of Syria. The Aid that was delivered to the Syrian Government Controlled areas far much more than the one which has been been delivered to the North West of Syria (areas outside of the control of the Syrian Government) although the North West was far much more devastated by the earthquake. The areas under the control of the Syrian government was destroyed during by aerial bombardment and shelling long time prior to the earthquake when Russian and Syrian forces recaptured these areas such as eastern site of Aleppo. With regard to the aid delivered to the Syrian government controlled areas, an ex UAE official mentioned that 33 countries sent aid to the Syrian government controlled areas and 50% of the aid came from the UAE on 130 flights (with average 3000 tonnes per flight) in addition UN aid and pledging.
Although we believe that aid should go wherever it is needed and humanitarian and medical aid should not be politicised, we believe that aid should be rationalised.
In summary, we must encourage donation directly to organisations working on the ground in most affected areas in Syria - often local organisations with low overheads & trusted by local communities. In the North West of Syria there are many trusted organisations such as Action for Humanity (UK based), Hand In Hand for Aid and Development (UK based), Syrian British Medical Society (UK based) UOSSM international , SAMS (US based) among others. They are all reputable and will ensure donations are utilised effectively
I am happy to be contacted should you feel necessary
Dr Abdullah Mawas
Chairman of Syrian British Medical Society
Competing interests: No competing interests