President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), Anas Abdah, sent a letter to Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the World Health Organization to highlight the health situation in Syria, especially the danger threatening the liberated areas. He stressed the need to expedite the implementation of the plan already agreed upon with the Syrian Interim Government to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus in Syria.
President Abdah warned that any further delay in the implementation of the plan will lead to a major disaster. He called on the organization to assume its responsibilities and provide the agreed upon aid that is needed to take precautions and measures to prevent the spread of the deadly pandemic.
He pointed out that the situation in Syria, especially in the north, is different from the rest of the world in view of the large number of the internally displaced people living in the region, the lack of places suitable for isolation, and the destruction of the majority of healthcare facilities during the onslaught the Russian and Assad regime forces have launched in the region in recent months.
“The Syrian regime continues to cover up cases of the coronavirus in Syria,” President Abdah said, adding that based on the number of cases in the region and given the fact that the regime opened Syria’s borders wide for militias and others coming from neighboring countries, it is impossible to believe there is only one coronavirus case in Syria.
“The risks of the pandemic are not limited to civilians in the regime-held areas as tens of thousands of detainees in the regime’s prisons and detention centers represent a very vulnerable group. There is plethora of evidence that point to the practices of the Syrian regime with regards to the detainees, the least of which are denying them the necessary food and medical care.”
He also called for pressuring the regime to allow complete access to detention centers and elsewhere to be able to closely monitor the spread of the pandemic and provide the necessary medical care. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
