Syria Civil Defence: Syria has been under rubble for 12 years due to Assad regime and Russia

The Syrian Civil Defence (The White Helmets) affirmed that the world should know that Syria has been under the rubble for 12 years due to the war launching by Assad regime and Russia on it, not only affected by the earthquake that hit Syria.

The Civil Defence made it clear that three months since the devastating earthquake hitting Syria on February 6, 2023, which left deaths and its consequences spilled over to affect all aspects of life such as accommodation, health, education, services. Years of forcibly displacement and war and the presence of nearly 2 million people in the camps preceded the earthquake.

The Civil Defence said that “with the passing of 90 days since the earthquake occurred, our teams continue its work at all levels to enable the people in the earthquake-affected areas to return to their normal life and to meet their needs as well as recover from the earthquake’s wounds. The Civil Defence pointed out that it has not stopped responding to the people in northern Syria to alleviate the tragedies of 12-year war.

The Civil Defence pointed out that the huge amount of people’s needs after losing their jobs or sources of income and the destruction of infrastructure and hygienic sewage pipelines in some areas have led to diseases and epidemics outbreak that threaten people’s life in the light of weak UN humanitarian response.

The team worked within a plan that included three phases to respond to the earthquake. The first phase related to the emergency response and ended with the end of the search for survivors and the recovery of the bodies of the victims, while the second phase included opening roads and securing the dangers of falling walls on the people, and the third phase includes removing rubble, which is the decisive step to restore normal life to the affected areas.

On February 6, 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Syria and lasted for about a minute, followed by many aftershocks, resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries, and causing the displacement of thousands of families, and massive destruction of infrastructure and public property.