A driver closes the tarpaulin of a truck, containing humanitarian aid collected by Croatian government, Caritas and the Croatian Red Cross and lining-up at the logistics center of the directorate of civil protection in Jastrebarsk, near Zagreb, on February 10, 2023, ready to deliver to areas of Turkey after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck early February 6 near the Turkish-Syrian border. (Photo by DENIS LOVROVIC / AFP)
Geneva: The United Nations rights chief called on Friday for an immediate ceasefire in Syria to help facilitate bringing aid to all victims of the region's devastating earthquake.
"At this terrible time in Turkey and Syria, we call for urgent delivery of assistance to ALL in need," the UN rights office said in a tweet.
"UN human rights chief Volker Turk calls for immediate ceasefire in Syria, and full respect for human rights and humanitarian law obligations so help can reach everyone," it added.
The call came as rescue workers continued their search for survivors in the rubble of the 7.8 magnitude quake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, with the death toll now above 22,000.
At least 3,377 people have died in Syria, where more than a decade of civil war and Syrian-Russian aerial bombardment had already destroyed hospitals, collapsed the economy and prompted electricity, fuel and water shortages.
The rebel-held areas of Syria near Turkey's border are in a particularly dire situation since they cannot receive aid from government-held parts of Syria without Damascus's authorisation.
At the same time, Bab al-Hawa -- the sole border crossing used to shuttle life-saving aid from Turkey into conflict-ravaged Syria -- has seen its operations disrupted by the deadly earthquake.
Even before the tremor, the UN had repeatedly stressed the need to open more border crossings to make it easier to get aid through.
