Idlib and Why the UK Must Review Humanitarian Support

Under thecover of potential global war in the Middle East, the final strangle hold isbeing tightened on the 3 million civilians remaining in Idlib.  Many areinternally displaced people who have been bombed from pillar to post acrossSyria for the last 8 years, they are now to be starved as well on ‘our’watch.  The UN mandate to provide cross border humanitarian aid via Turkeyran out on Jan 10^th after a vote to extend it was vetoed by Russiaand others last month. The recent tensions with Iran has also ensured thiscrisis is in danger of going unnoticed.

Everyconceivable war crime has been perpetrated in Syria and condoned it wouldappear, by the UN and others.  Extensive use of chemical weapons has beenhugely successful and now in the armoury of every dictator, despot, rogue stateand terrorist.  Constant and direct targeting of hospitals and medicalstaff have left one major hospital and a few clinics to deal with millions ofwomen and children.  This evil tactic is now also common place amongstthose who seek to spread their evil dogma elsewhere on the planet.  Andnow the civilians are to be starved and allowed to die for want of the mostbasic medical supplies, food and help.  Little wonder ISIS and Al Qaedarise phoenix like from these improbable ashes.

My dearfriend of many years, Dr Omar, a consultant surgeon in one of the fewfacilities still operating in Idlib, confirms he and his staff have not beenpaid for 6 months and are out of all medicines including even the most basicsuch as paracetamol.  For years the doctors who had money had beensustaining large extended families.  ‘Kill a doctor and thousands willstarve’ – this is only too well known by the aggressors in Syria and nowelsewhere, thanks to collective global inaction.

Thankfullyat least, the prospect of WW3 appears to be receding and perhaps an emboldenedTrump will see his way to spreading some of his ‘sparkle’ on the destitute ofIdlib?  Similarly, now in the UK, after 3 years, we have an effectiveparliament in London and can look outwards from Europe and ‘hopefully’ get backto do what we really do well – humanitarian support. 

There are too many in the traditional ‘humanitarian system’ who think, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria are the same place requiring the same solution – they are very different and must be treated as so.  Otherwise, we get a ‘hotchpotch’ of ineffective activity as we see in Syria.  Humanitarian intervention must be a comprehensive solution involving FCO, DFID and MOD in the UK’s case, and not individual fiefdoms overly protective of their budgets and ‘space’.  I welcome the ‘root and branch’ review being suggested by the new government on how these agencies should operate in future, and the possible combination of one or some of them must be an option?

But, in the short term, we must get aid flowing back into Idlib and strain every nerve and sinew to minimise the massacre of civilians, a daily occurrence in Idlib, before Assad retakes the province and then we are invited in with our £ millions to pick up the pieces.

Hamish deBretton-Gordon.