Member of the Syrian National Coalition (SOC), Ahmed Bakkoura, said that the situation is very difficult in northwestern Syria, which was hit by the earthquake. Bakkoura added that the region already suffers from complex crises on the economic, service, and social levels, and the earthquake has brought the region to a critical point, and the delay in extending assistance threatens serious humanitarian crises.
Bakkoura further noted that there is a strong fear among specialized institutions and health sector workers of an outbreak of epidemics among the people, especially after the horror that limits the immunity of the people who were exposed to the earthquake. There is also a fear of the depletion of basic materials in the region due to directing everything available to support the earthquake victims.
Bakkoura pointed out that despite people’s patience, the harsh and terrifying experience left profound effects on the psychological well-being of many of those they met, with children and women being the most fragile and vulnerable among all.
Bakkoura stressed the need to quickly move from responding to emergencies to planning for the rehabilitation of infrastructure and repairable homes, as well as meeting basic needs and restarting the local economy. Providing necessary health support to those affected is also a top priority.
Regarding the Assad regime’s attempts to exploit the disaster, Bakkoura said that the whole world knows that the regime has lost legitimacy and sovereignty over the entire Syrian geography. The sovereignty and the supreme word in the liberated north rests with the Syrian people and their free institutions.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
