The first United Nations aid convoy crossed from Turkey into northern Syria through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing: A symbolic message to the Syrian people
They arrived in the back of a van, wrapped in body bags, blue tarps or colorful family blankets. They were written on the paper that family members waiting at the Syrian side of the border with Turkey would receive from them.
All through Tuesday and Wednesday, people from across northwestern Syria converged at Bab al-Hawa after receiving word from relatives in Turkey that the body of a loved one was being returned to Syria. They brought their dead to pickup trucks and took them to their final resting place.
They planned to bury Yara in the village cemetery where Mr. al-Yousef lives. As in almost every cemetery in the northern part of Syria, there are a handful of grave plots that are always prepared for the next death in a place where death comes from the skies.
“Those who died, we want them to come back,” said Mr. al-Yousef, who lives in a tent camp near the Syrian town of Sarmada on the border. “We want them to be buried among their family.”
His cousin and his family fled their small village in Syria’s Hama Province in 2013 when shelling and airstrikes intensified, moving to another part of Syria closer to the border with Turkey. Soon after, they crossed over to Turkey because Yara’s father could not find work in Syria.
Almost 4.5 million Syrians fled the country during the past 12 years of a civil war that still hasn’t ended. More people sought refuge in Lebanon, Jordan, and Europe.
A United Nations aid convoy, made up of six trucks carrying shelter items and Non Food Items (NFI), crossed from Turkey into northwest Syria Thursday through the Bab Al Hawa crossing — the only humanitarian aid corridor between Turkey and rebel-held areas of northern Syria.
The delivery of urgent supplies to quake-hit areas of northern Syria has been complicated by a long-running civil war between opposition forces and the Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, who is accused of killing his own people. Any aid received by Syria must be routed through the capital Damascus, according to the Foreign Minister.
On Wednesday morning, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Damascus said that roads to the border crossing were open and that the first aid convoy to Syria from Turkey was expected to arrive in the coming hours.
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Muslim funeral prayers were being held constantly across northwestern Syria, sometimes in the shadow of mounds of rubble as rescue workers continued a desperate search and recovery operation.
When the van pulled up, the men surged forward, running, and crowded around the back of the vehicle. A worker at the border called out the names of dead people.
Mr. al-Yousef and his aunt waited for over two hours at the crossing, hoping they would see a young relative, but they didn’t.
In the villages where other peoples family members were still lying under rubble waiting to be rescued or recovered, Mr. al-Yousef and his Aunt drove home.
On Wednesday, they were informed that Yara’s body would be delayed in its return to Syria: They would wait to recover her parent’s bodies and that of her brother and return them together.
The delivery ended after just 300 bodies were received by the administration that controls the only access point between the two countries.
70 countries and 14 international organizations have immediately offered teams of rescuers, donations and aid in Turkey despite the different situation in Syria.
Millions of people had already suffered from extreme poverty and a cholera outbreak when the earthquake hit, making them reliant on aid groups.
Syrians are not sure where their next meal comes from. When we say a meal, it isn’t about vegetables… it’s about simple bread,” said Moutaz Adham, Oxfam’s country director for Syria.