Activists face uphill battle to supply crucial medicines
As the war rages in Syria, an army of volunteers is working tirelessly, risking their lives trying to smuggle medical equipment to stranded residents and rebels seeking to oust Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad. Syrians who fled the fighting in their homeland are joining hands with aid organizations to provide medicines badly needed to treat injured and chronically ill patients.
Activists from Dera’a, the cradle of the revolt against Assad, say the siege imposed on the southern Syrian city has resulted in an almost complete lack of medical supplies, putting the lives of many at risk.
In the border town of Ramtha, where thousands of refugees have gathered, Abu Ahmad Hariri, a barrel-chested man in his mid-40’s who was a member of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighting the rebels, has become a self-declared pharmacist, despite having no training or experience. He has learned to re-package medicines before personally sending them to his brothers in Dera’a who handle the distribution into nearby towns. He said he fled to Jordan a month ago with the express purpose of bringing medicine to stranded rebels and residents.
“I noticed that people are not only dying from direct bombing and shooting, but from complications due to the lack of medical supplies” he told The Media Line as he packaged some medicine to send to town activists in Dael, where the Syrian army has stepped up its shelling to punish residents for aiding the rebels. “My mission is purely humanitarian.”
Hariri said many medicines sold to rebels inside Syria are either expired or have gone bad due to improper storage.
“The first thing I check is the expiration date,” he said. “Then I check the quality of the medicines before packaging them in boxes with names and numbers to fit as much in as possible,” he said, noting that most of his supplies come from donations by Syrian and Jordanian aid groups as well as the Red Crescent. Hariri smuggles the medicine once or twice a week, depending on the security situation along the border.
Lately, Syrian forces have been trying to maintain tight control over the border and have increased their presence in key areas in order to stop infiltrators, thus making smuggling very difficult. Hariri says he has also been trying to get medicine to the refugee camps located on the Jordanian side of the border. But his efforts have been thwarted by Jordanian authorities, keen to prevent access to the camp by anyone not working for an international aid organization after discovering a 21-member cell that allegedly was trying to stir-up unrest in the camp and target some activists.
Hariri managed to send a shipment of antihistamine pills to help refugee camp residents deal with the desert dust that ignited allergies among many refugees, mainly children. At the same time, western diplomats in Amman are scrambling to establish a link with activists and Syrian rebels in order to funnel medical supplies to Syria after their efforts to set up clinics inside Syria failed. Many western countries including the UK, France, Italy and Canada have pledged to provide medical supplies to Syrian cities worth millions of dollars, but are struggling to find reliable partners inside of Syria to ensure the drugs reach those who need them.
“We want to help and funds are available but we have a confidence problem with some people who are not who they claim to be,” a senior Western diplomat told The Media Line, referring to widespread accusations of corruption among activists.
Canada’s foreign minister, John Baird, announced during a visit to Jordan earlier this month that his country would provide $2 million to purchase medical supplies and set up more clinics. But Canada decided to refrain from sending cash to Syrian groups, worried that the money would not reach victims.
Besides smuggling medicine, activists are bringing volunteer doctors from Syrian expatriate communities around the world to countries bordering on their homeland. The medical personnel say they want to use their expertise to help their fellow countrymen.
Imad Abdel Aziz, a 45-year old plastic surgeon originally from Dera’a who currently lives in France, has been making regular trips between Jordan and Syria to help treat the wounded, perform surgeries, and bring urgent cases back to Amman for further treatment.
“People do not have basic medical supplies including bandages and alcohol, let alone morphine-based medication and antibiotics to treat the injured,” he told The Media Line. “Many people lost their limbs and even their lives because of the lack of medicine.” Abdel Aziz is working on setting up a number of field hospitals in southern Syria with the help of the Free Syria Army and community leaders.
“The entire world has abandoned Syria and left it to face an uncertain future,” he said. ”It is the duty of the Syrian people to take care of themselves.”