The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 10th February 2023
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 10th February 2023
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
INTERNATIONAL emergency services are rushing to the Middle East following a devastating earthquake that toppled thousands of buildings across the Syrian-Turkish border this week. Thousands have died and many more were injured in the quakes that shook the region. Many others remained trapped under the debris in cold and snowy weather that is hampering the rescue teams.
Chinese and Russian teams are joining Arab and Iranian efforts to save lives and provide assistance to the stricken areas, and the Syrian Red Crescent is calling for the suspension of the imperialist blockade to help the country recover in its hour of need.
The Syrian Health Ministry says additional ambulances and mobile clinics have been dispatched to the affected regions and the Syrian government has appealed for help to UN members and international organisations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said the rescue operations are “now a race against time” and that the chance of finding more survivors diminishes with every passing hour. The WHO is dispatching crews and supplies to the affected area.
Many countries have offred assistance with the rescue efforts. Russia has sent over a hundred emergency response specialists, who will work around the clock in the affected areas. But Syrian efforts are hampered by the sanctions imposed by the USA and the European Union.
lift the siege
That’s why the head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Khaled Hboubati, is calling called for the lifting of the siege and economic sanctions imposed on Syria to help the country face the repercussions of the devastating earthquake.
“We need heavy equipment, ambulances, and firefighting vehicles to continue to rescue and remove the rubble, and this requires the lifting of sanctions on Syria as soon as possible,” Hboubati said. The number of victims is likely to rise, and a number of buildings are still at risk of collapsing.
“The results of the earthquake are catastrophic, and our volunteers are ready, but we lack equipment”, he said. “The rescue process is exposed to many obstacles, the first of which is the lack of mechanisms for saving people, in addition to the sanctions that are the main obstacle to reach these mechanisms.”
A plane carrying the first batch of Iranian humanitarian aid landed at Damascus International Airport on Tuesday, carrying blankets, tents, medicine, food materials and other things that might be needed in the affected areas. Later, two Iraqi planes packed with humanitarian aid on board opened a humanitarian ‘air bridge’ between Damascus and Baghdad whilst an Iraqi convoy took to the road to rush desperately needed fuel to the earthquake victims.
co-operate
In Turkey the first Chinese civilian assistance force has already started to help. The team of eight earthquake relief experts from the Ramunion Rescue Team is led by He Jun, who said they would use advanced radar life detectors, demolition and rescue equipment, and a search and rescue dog for the mission. “We will co-operate with local teams and other international rescue forces, to rescue life from rubble as quickly as possible,” He Jun said.
Founded in 2008, Ramunion is a professional rescue team specialising in emergency response to disasters and accidents. Its members have taken part in a total of 287 international and domestic rescue missions, including earthquake relief missions in Nepal, Pakistan and Indonesia.