The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) also recently called for an end to sanctions against Syria.
“We urge the immediate lifting of sanctions on Syria and allowing access to all materials, so sanctions may not turn into a crime against humanity,” the religious leaders wrote in a Feb. 6 statement.
According to the latest available estimates as of midday Wednesday, the 7.8-magnitude quake has left at least 11,600 people dead in Turkey and Syria, the New York Times reported. In Syria, which has been ravaged by more than a decade of civil war, countless buildings collapsed Feb. 6, including several Catholic churches, reported ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language partner agency.
In Syria’s Idlib province, which borders Turkey, some 4.1 million people required humanitarian assistance even before the February earthquake, according to the United Nations. According to the Washington Post, assistance to that region is hampered by restrictions imposed by the Syrian government, which disallows some international organizations from accessing the area. In addition, there is only one border crossing open to the region from Turkey, which causes a bottleneck for aid.
Many cities and towns with a significant Christian population in Syria, such as Aleppo, Homs, Lattakia, and Hama, suffered major damage. In Aleppo, several UNESCO World Heritage sites were damaged, including the citadel of the old city. Many international Catholic aid agencies, such as Caritas, Catholic Relief Services, and Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) are soliciting donations, mobilizing resources, and coordinating relief efforts.
The United States has imposed various sanctions on the Syrian government since the start of the country’s 2011 civil war, citing widely documented human rights abuses perpetrated by President Bashar Al-Assad against his own people.