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Members of the rescue team from the Egyptian army inspect the damaged areas, following a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hitting the country, in Derna, Libya September 13, 2023.
Libya’s death toll keeps rising
The death toll continues to rise in Libya, where at least 6,000 are now dead after two dams in the eastern part of the country burst due to torrential flooding. Most of the carnage is in the Mediterranean city of Derna.
The statistics are grim. The UN says that as many as 30,000 have been displaced, while other observers estimate that the death toll could rise to a staggering 20,000 as bodies continue to wash up on shore.
So far, the rescue effort has been grueling Debris and mud are hindering access to hard-hit communities. Meanwhile, destroyed roads and bridges are also compounding shortages of food and water.
Making matters worse, Libya has been mired in civil war for a decade, and political factionalism is further complicating rescue efforts.(More on that here.)
As chances of finding victims alive diminish, attention is shifting to how this part of the country became such a deathtrap. Analysts say that the dams had not been maintained by warring authorities for years, and never had any hope of suppressing heavy waters.Ambassador of Russia Vassily Nebenzia at the UN
Russian UN veto cuts aid deliveries to northwest Syria
Russia has voted down a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended a land border crossing needed to deliver crucial humanitarian aid from Turkey into northwestern Syria.
The Bab al-Hawa crossing is used by UN aid convoys to cross into Syria and is the main lifeline for around 4.5 million Syrians, many of whom have been displaced from other parts of the country during the brutal civil war that broke out a decade ago. (The UN says it has been providing aid to a whopping 2.7 million Syrians a month there.)
What happened? Russia was backed by China in refusing to extend the aid deal for another 12 months, joining Syria’s Bashar Assad – a close ally of the Kremlin also known as “The Butcher” for waging a brutal war on his own people – in saying that all aid should flow through Damascus, the capital. Assad has long claimed that using Bab al-Hawa violates Syrian sovereignty.
For more on why Russia is such a strong backer of the Assad regime, see our feature here.
But the other permanent members of the Security Council – the US, UK, and France – don’t trust that Assad would actually deliver and administer aid to civilians in the northwest, which is governed by Sunni Islamist rebels that have been trying to drive him from power for the past decade.
The timing is dire: It comes after a massive earthquake in February pummeled southern Turkey and northern Syria, further hampering civilians’ access to food, water, and medicine. While two previously-closed crossings from Turkey were temporarily reopened after the tragedy, they also expire next month. And even if they were to remain open, Bab-al Hawra accounts for a whopping 85% of aid deliveries into the northern part of the country.
Earthquakes expose political and humanitarian challenges in Turkey and Syria
In a recent episode of GZERO World, the International Rescue Committee's President and CEO, David Miliband, sheds light on the immense challenges of delivering aid in the aftermath of the deadly earthquakes that rocked Turkey and Syria. With the northwest of Syria controlled by armed opposition groups, aid delivery remains a hurdle that needs to be overcome urgently.
Miliband highlights the compounded crises in Syria, with inadequate medical care, cholera outbreaks, freezing temperatures, and ongoing border skirmishes threatening the survival of the population. He notes, "Hope is hard to find if you live there."
The political repercussions of the earthquakes are already being felt in Turkey, with citizens demanding accountability for lax building standards and corrupt permit systems. Miliband draws parallels to the 1999 earthquake, which saw accusations of corruption and the ousting of the prime minister. He predicts that the government's response to the disaster will be a hot-button issue in the upcoming election.
But it's not just about politics. The migrant crisis is an urgent humanitarian issue, with Miliband emphasizing the need for fair and humane treatment of those who have been driven from their homes. As he puts it, "We need to fulfill legal as well as moral obligations."
Note: This interview appeared in a GZERO World episode on March 6, 2023: Challenge of survival/Problem of governance: Aid for Turkey & Syria
Northwest Syria's aid dilemma: the aftermath of devastating earthquakes
The two devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey near the Syrian border on February 6 have exacerbated the already-difficult challenge of getting humanitarian aid into a region plagued by conflict and political instability. In an interview with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, David Miliband, explains how aid delivery remains a challenge in northwest Syria, which is controlled by armed opposition group.
Although two new cross-border points opened after the earthquake, the IRC hasn't seen an increase in aid flows.“It's still very tough to get aid across the border," says Miliband. Humanitarian assistance for northwest Syria needs to travel across the border with Turkey because aid sent directly to Damascus stays with President Bashar al-Assad's government. Miliband notes that the situation was already dire in the region before the earthquakes, and the disaster has only compounded the crisis in Syria, with a lack of adequate medical care, cholera outbreaks, and freezing temperatures posing major risks to the population.
The overall politics of the region, which is still recovering from the decade-long Syrian Civil War, also remain dire. Northwest Syria was a conflict zone as recently as January, and 150 civilians were killed last year in border skirmishes.
“If you live there, it's very hard for people to keep any hope at all,” says Miliband.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Challenge of survival/Problem of governance: Aid for Turkey & Syria
What obligations do rich nations have when it comes to refugees?
The recent tragedy of the migrant boat that sunk off the coast of Italy and killed 64 people raises an important question: are European leaders taking the right approach to prevent migrants from risking their lives in the first place? On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer and David Miliband, the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, discuss the complex and urgent nature of the migrant crisis and the need for effective solutions.
Miliband notes that migration is not just a European issue but a global one, with people “on the move more than ever before” due to persecution, war, and disaster. He emphasizes the need to “balance fairness with humanity” and “fulfill legal as well as moral obligations for people who have been driven from their homes.”
To address this challenge, Miliband outlines four key elements to fair, humane migration: fast processing of asylum claims, proper integration of those allowed to stay, addressing criminal elements that exploit the lack of legal migration routes, and creating legal routes for asylum-seekers and migrants to travel safely.
Miliband predicts that migration will be one of the biggest challenges for the rest of this century, as people in countries with a per capita income of less than $7,000 will continue to seek a better life elsewhere.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Challenge of survival/Problem of governance: Aid for Turkey & Syria
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How Turkey's earthquake may shape the future of its democracy
The earthquake in Turkey has sparked a fiery debate about corruption and poor governance in the country. On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer talks to David Miliband, the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, about the political implications of this disaster.
In the weeks following the earthquake, there's been a lot of public critisim of Turkey's building standards and accusations of corruption in the country's construction permit system. Miliband acknowledges that he is not an expert in structural engineering, but points out that the Turkish government's poor handling of the aftermath of a devastating 1999 earthquake led to the ouster of the prime minister.
Miliband describes the situation as an "absolute meltdown of the urban environment,” causing “a lot of anger” and grief. He predicts that the earthquake response will impact Turkey's upcoming election, but with 10 million lives upended in the quake, it's difficult to predict how they will “vote and participate.”
Miliband believes the response will focus on "survival, recovery, and blame," and "that's going to play out in technicolor in Turkey."
Watch the GZERO World episode: Challenge of survival/Problem of governance: Aid for Turkey & Syria
Ian Explains: Earthquakes compound political turmoil in Turkey and Syria
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on February 6th, followed by a 7.5 magnitude quake shortly after, causing widespread devastation and over 50,000 death in Turkey and Syria. The disaster is compounded by multiple crises in the region, including the Syrian civil war, the refugee crisis, and financial turmoil in both countries, Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.
The earthquake also highlighted the complicated relationships between the countries' leaders, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the rest of the world.
Syria is still devastated by a over a decade of civil war, a conflict that’s killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and decimated northwest Syria, where the earthquakes struck. Western leaders wary of sending aid directly to Assad's government, which has a history of withholding assistance from citizens in rebel-controlled areas.
Erdoğan is navigating a difficult political environment ahead of the general election in May, trying to avoid the pitfalls of his predecessor, who was booted from office two decades ago in large part because of his mismanagement of another earthquake that killed over 17,000 people.
The main challenge now is to expand the flow of aid to the people in Turkey and Syria who still desperately need it, while ensuring that the help continues to flow long after the news crews leave.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Challenge of survival/Problem of governance: Aid for Turkey & Syria
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World Bank Group President David Malpass speaks to the media in Washington, D.C. in 2022.
Hard Numbers: World Bank chief resigns, Another Russian journalist jailed, Ukraine’s humanitarian needs, pessimistic Nigerians, good riddance Johns Hopkins tracker
12: World Bank President David Malpass, tapped by former President Donald Trump, announced Wednesday that he’ll step down this summer, roughly 12 months before his term expires. Malpass has been mired in controversy in recent months after he refused to say whether fossil fuels are warming the planet. (Malpass spoke to GZERO Media amid the controversy, saying he’s not a climate change denier.)
6: Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko has been handed a six-year jail sentence for posting on social media that Russian planes were responsible for an attack last March on Ukrainian civilians hiding in a theater in Mariupol. Following the verdict, Ponomarenko, a mother of two, said: “No totalitarian regime has ever been as strong as before its collapse."
5.6 billion: The UN said Wednesday that $5.6 billion is needed to provide humanitarian aid to the tens of millions of Ukrainians impacted by the war, including around 4 million who have resettled in Eastern Europe. But with the situation in Turkey and Syria continuing to deteriorate, Ukraine fundraisers could now have a tougher time securing Western aid dollars.
90: Ahead of general elections on Feb. 25, a whopping 90% of Nigerians say that the country is headed in the wrong direction, the worst outlook ever recorded. For a look at what’s at stake in the election, see this primer.
3: After more than three years in action, the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker will stop updating its data on March 10. The dashboard started publishing global pandemic statistics in Jan. 2020 and has been viewed more than 2.5 billion times since. We won’t miss you, Johns Hopkins tracker.