By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Authorities in Syria on Tuesday appealed to the United States and European Union to suspend sanction imposed on it and send aid following the deaths of about 1,600 people across the country from a powerful earthquake.
The 7.8-magnitude quake early Monday, which has also been said to have killed thousands in neighbouring Turkey, caused widespread destruction in both regime-controlled and rebel-held parts of Syria already torn by war.
The head of the Syrian Red Crescent, Khaled Haboubati on Tuesday appealed to “all European Union countries to lift economic sanctions on Syria”.
“The time has come after this earthquake,” Haboubati, whose organisation is based in government-held areas, told a press conference.
“I appeal to United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide assistance to the Syrian people,” he added.
Similarly, Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, on Monday also said the government was ready to “provide all the required facilities” to receive humanitarian assistance.
Despite a decade of war, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government is seen as a threat to global peace, a development that has restricted global efforts to assist those affected by the quake.
According to Damascus, Syria has faced financial difficulties as a result of the sanctions by Western countries, which was imposed in 2011 following a conflict that began with the repression of peaceful protests and later escalated to pull in foreign powers and global jihadists.
Government-controlled regions of the country have receive aid through United Nations agencies despite the sanctions.
Syrian state media and rescuers said at least 1,602 people have died in the earthquake and more than 3,600 have been injured across the country.
The Red Crescent has dispatched 3,000 volunteers, Haboubati said.
