Aya, a 30-year-old humanitarian worker in Idlib. (Photo provided by Aya)
It seemed like yet another curse among many.
After more than a decade of bombing by Bashar al-Assad's regime and its Russian ally, the seizure of much of the area by the jihadist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as well as economic and humanitarian crises, Syria’s rebel-held northwest was hit yet again — this time by the earthquake at dawn on Feb. 6.
In areas of northwestern Syria controlled by HTS or Ankara-backed rebels, at least 1,347 people have died, according to a provisional death toll. Left to their own devices, the White Helmets, a local civil defense group, are still trying to lift survivors from the rubble. Meanwhile, residents have been held hostage for several years by the Syrian government and Russia’s partial blockade of humanitarian convoys into the area.
This week, L'Orient-Le Jour will give the floor to residents of opposition-held northwestern Syria, where four million people live, most of them internally displaced by 12 years of conflict.
Today, we hear the testimony of Aya, a 30-year-old humanitarian worker in Idlib governorate.
Testimony collected by Noura DOUKHI.
"Since that horrible earthquake, each day has been more difficult than the last.
“Yesterday, I woke up at 6 a.m. I received many disturbing and scary messages and calls on WhatsApp throughout the night. I got up. It was very cold. I had coffee with my mom and dad at home. We started chatting on WhatsApp with everyone we know to ask about our family members and friends. Many of them are under the rubble and so far we don't know if they are alive or dead. My friend's family was found dead under the rubble in Antakya.
“I went out to walk the streets to see the people. Everyone is distressed and afraid. The streets are sad, and most of the stores are closed. I walked to a garden that has been turned into a shelter for people affected by the earthquake. Many of them are sitting with their children, without food, blankets or basic necessities. They are frozen and very tired. Their children are coughing a lot because of the cold and have become sick.
“I went to the site of the destruction and rubble. Young volunteers were trying to help people whose houses were damaged or destroyed. People were crying on the rubble for their lost loved ones.
“I remembered the airstrikes that the Assad regime inflicted on us, and how we used to run and flee in the streets, terrified. How our homes were destroyed ... and how we lost loved ones. I can't forget those years of war, because we are still living them. Even in the aftermath of the earthquake, Russian warplanes were in the air and bombed villages in northwestern Syria.
"On the way home, I cried a lot. I felt helpless. The aftershocks continue and we feel them every moment, it is an indescribable feeling. We will never be able to overcome and forget this real catastrophe and these scenes of horror. This event is equivalent to all the years of war that we have lived through. This time we are even more afraid, because there is no escape, we cannot run away from an earthquake. This is God's destiny.
“Disasters are continually coming upon us. We have lived through 12 years of war and bombing, during which time coronavirus and cholera have spread ... and now the earthquake.
“My two young children just ask me questions. They ask me: ‘Mommy, what is an earthquake? Mommy, why did it hit us? Mom, why is the house shaking and people are scared? Mom, why are people crying and dying?’”
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.