Syria faces a double disaster as the areas hardest hit by this month\u2019s earthquake had already been destroyed in 12 years of unrelenting conflict, warned David Beasley, who heads the World Food Programme (WFP), after returning to New York from the devastated regions of Syria and Turkiye on Saturday.
\n\u201cThe impact of this quake will be felt for months and years to come.\u201d
\nHe urged authorities in both countries to open more border crossings to help survivors of the earthquakes that hit the region on Feb 6. The WFP chief described the situation in Syria as a \u201ccatastrophe on top of a catastrophe\u201d, pointing out that the earthquake followed 12 years of unrelenting conflict.
\n\u201cThe areas hardest hit lack the capacity and infrastructure to deal with the impact of a disaster of this magnitude,\u201d a UN report said.
\nThe WFP\u2019s trucks are providing life-saving supplies to non-government-controlled areas of north-western Syria, but border restrictions limit their access. \u201cFood assistance must get to the people of north-western Syria from all sides, through all routes, without any restrictions,\u201d Mr. Beasley said. \u201cOur trucks are rolling, and this food and other supplies will literally save thousands and thousands of lives.\u201d
\nA UN video showed Mr Beasley watching a 21-truck convoy carrying 380 tonnes of food into Syria.
\nSince the border crossing reopened on Feb 13, WFP has supported the crossing of 180 trucks into the northwest. The agency has reached more than 2.3 million affected people across both Syria and Turkiye, but the WFP chief warned that the need was much greater.
\nMr Beasley said that during a visit to the Hatay region, in southern T\u00fcrkiye, he witnessed an \u201capocalyptic\u201d landscape caused by \u201cincomprehensible\u201d devastation.
\nWith some 18m people affected across southern T\u00fcrkiye and north-western Syria, tens of thousands of lives have been lost, and millions upon millions of people have lost their homes, livelihood, and assets, he added.
\n\u201cWhile the world has quickly mobilised in support of people here, the impact of this quake will be felt for months and years to come,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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