The Community, which is the initiator of the appeal to save Aleppo, accepted the agreement
Any plan to be put in place in Syria will have to target macro-areas, precisely the "population who are located in the borders of Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan" and the war zones that are "still unreachable." However, bringing in aid is the starting point of the reasoning of Mauro Garofalo, who is the head of Foreign Affairs and Peace Work for the Community of Sant'Egidio. In particular, he argued that "it is necessary that hostilities stop, that the government allow movement, and that the rebels let in basic necessities, which are very urgent."
Does the agreement reached in Munich go in this direction?
It is good that there is a willingness to end hostilities by beginning to think politically about a transition with humanitarian aid as a priority. According to the signatories themselves, however, there are still many question marks; first of all, it is an agreement that does not involve Syrian interlocutors and does not include, for example, a stop to the bombing. It is difficult to send aid under the bombs. Nevertheless, it is an agreement that Syria has needed for months.
If the ceasefire is a reality, where should cooperation start?
The besieged cities were also the bone of contention and one of the reasons for the breakdown of the Geneva 3 talks. This is certainly a place to start. Nonetheless, after years of war, there is not just one area more in an emergency than others; it is all a humanitarian priority in these territories, where we have seen children starving. Thus, we have to start with the population, and these are the most important hotspots without forgetting there are centers, which are still unreachable.
What are the priorities?
We need to work on several levels. First of all, we will work on the huge number of refugees living crammed in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan, who are bearing a huge burden with great difficulty, with whose governments we should establish supportive actions. Moreover, there are the people on the inside; hence, those who have not been able to escape and are living at the border together with the people who have been trapped in the war zones.
What is missing here?
By talking to the network of religious people on the ground, they tell us there is a problem with supplies (i.e water, light, and heating). These are the foundation for survival. Subsequently, there is a lack of food, and medicines for the few hospitals left standing. Therefore, the rearrangement of the collection of essential supplies is the priority. There is also medium-term thinking: getting children back to school after 4 years, caring for the elderly who have not been taken care of, and mending a destroyed social fabric.
Which cities need to be reached most urgently?
Aleppo, Homs, Madaia, Zabadani. However, it is fairer to think in terms of areas when it comes to Syria. The most serious situation is the north-central front, specifically in the area from Homs to Aleppo. Life is complicated and air strikes give the population no chance in this no-man's-land that stretches all the way to the border with Turkey right now. Then there is the Hassake zone and the area on the northeastern border; here the population suffers and the small Christian communities are enduring all kinds of difficulties. Somewhat "quieter" is the area further south, where Deraa is located.
How to rebuild not only the houses but also the communities?
You have to imagine Syria as a country divided into small areas at war with each other. For this reason, you have to think about protecting minorities -Christians have almost disappeared- you have to think about a dialogue that bypasses the simple question of "should Assad leave or should he stay." We need to start asking again whether it is possible to live together, as was the case in Aleppo. If it cannot be done in Syria, then where is it possible? Humanitarian aid needs to go hand in hand with re-establishing basic assistance... Unfortunately, we are still at the stage where there are shooting and raining bombs.
Alessia Guerrieri - L'Avvenire 02.13.2016
