Idlib - Horror and Indifference

Thoseof us deeply involved in Syrian humanitarian support are swimming against atide of indifference even as the most horrendous atrocities are happening inplain sight in Idlib. 

After8 years of war, the height of international intervention seems to be platitudesat the UN of the  ‘mans’ in humanity to‘man’ type.  With the echoes of theHolocaust’s survivors at the 75^th Anniversary, ‘Never Again’, stillaudible, it is clear that at the moment, we will warm, feed and protect thewretched in Idlib only with our words rather than our deeds.  No President, Prime Minister, Chairman orDictator can say they did not see it.

Byshooting down 2 regime helicopters last week the Turkish military have at leaststopped the barrel bombs in Idlib for now.  I along with others have been calling for thissince 201. These illegal indiscriminate munitions have killed the largest largerpercentage of the 500,000 civilians who have died in this conflict.  Howeasy would it have been for the might of NATO to achieve this?  Senior voices in some Western militariesclaimed the S400 anti-aircraft system the Russian’s gave to Assad, over matchedWestern jet fighters, however, the Israelis seem to have conducted hundreds ofair strikes over Syria with impunity.

Reliablesources last week stated that over 100,000 barrel bombs, some with chemicalsin, have been dropped on civilians during the last 8 years of conflict inSyria.  I have seenthe devastation myself of these weapons, when a barrel bomb fell on a playground in Aleppo in October 2014.  27 children arrived at the hospital Iwas working in; they were in a shocking state and the injuries were toohorrific to describe here.  26 of the children died.

The schoolattack in Aleppo was not unique, and there are many examples where barrel bombshave been dropped on marketplaces and hospitals.  They are cheap and easy to use, thoughillegal under the Geneva Conventions. President Assad is happy to use hisfavoured killing method.  They arehorrifically effective and terrify people in Idlib as much as chemical weaponsdo.  At this moment 700,000 people are onthe move in Idlib, heading towards the closed Turkish border just ahead of thecarpet bombing, sleeping in the open in sub-zero temperatures, scratchingaround for food, with little hope of salvation.

Morally, surely, we ought to strainevery sinew to find a solution?  Any planmust defeat the jihadists of Al Qaeda and ISIS in Idlib, but without innocentcivilians  becoming the collateral damageof this action. The jihadist will benot be defeated by a scorched earth policy, but by precision strikes from theair and action on the ground as demonstrated by the US Coalition defeating ISISlast year.

The barrel bomb method sees hundreds ofcivilians perish for every one terrorist killed!  How can this be acceptable?  On this devastating metric, 10,000’s ofcivilians will die in Idlib in the next few months before this is over.  And most likely drive those who survive, intothe hands of ISIS, who are still a significant threat to the streets of London,Paris and New York.

Westernnations, including the UK have been unwilling to intervene to save civilianlives in Syria, but we have pumped £2.7bn into aid which we have been happy forothers to deliver by proxy.  The vast majority of the 3 million trapped inIdlib are starving and of the few hospitals remaining, most have been destroyedby Russian and Syria air strikes and are virtually out of the most basicmedicines.  As the world is prepared to move ‘heaven and earth’ to containthe Corona virus, which may kill less than traditional winter flu virus, itshows no appetite to save potentially tens of thousands of civilians in Syriaas President Assad completes his ‘final solution’.

Ourrole, according to Russian Foreign Secretary at the Munich Security Conferenceis to pick up the pieces and rebuild Syria with our money once Assad is back incomplete control – is this what we are to be reduced to –  following the orders of dictators?

TheUK’s does not appear to have a comprehensive, or any type of strategy for Syria? Now is the time for a root and branch review of how the FCO, DFID and MODshould operate in future to ensure the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan, and our‘no show’ in Syria, are inculcated into a comprehensive Humanitarian Strategyfor the future, or redirect these £Billions elsewhere?

Ihope that a confident new ‘Global Britain’, with our apparently decisive newleader and his team, will give a damn about the children of Syria, and ifnecessary use the finest military to deliver humanitarian aid amongst theArmageddon of Idlib before these children disappear for good in thePasschendaele like horrors they are facing.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE

Director Doctors Under Fire & advisor to medical NGOs in Idlib