The WHO chief said Sunday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had shown a willingness to consider opening new border crossings to provide aid to earthquake victims in the country’s northwest, a rebel-held area.
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“This afternoon I met His Excellency President Assad, who has indicated that he is open to the idea of considering cross-border access points for this emergency,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists.
Bar al-Hawa, the only operational border crossing from Turkey to the rebel areas devastated by the quake, was damaged during the quake. Nevertheless, aid supplies have been being transported there again since Thursday, but the call to open more border crossings in order to speed up the aid deliveries is getting louder.
Mr Tedros also welcomed “the Syrian government’s recent authorization for UN cross-border convoys” to bring aid to rebel-held areas.
Damascus has announced that it has accepted international aid to the rebel areas being channeled from regions it controls.
But the WHO is still waiting for the green light from authorities in rebel-held areas for entry.
“We are on standby,” said the WHO chief.
“We can move northwest at any time thanks to the authorization we have (…) on this site. We’re awaiting news from the other side now,” he continued, adding, “When we have it, we’ll cross in a northwesterly direction.”