Pandemic in war-torn regions
BY: Aabid Shahin
Millions are suffering from years of war and violence across many parts of world. In recent decades Iraq, Syria, and Palestine have been limelight for various types of violence and wild barbarism. Taking the case of present-day Syria, years of warfare have left it embattled and betrayed. Same stands true for Palestine and other conflict regions.
So far not many cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Syria. However if the epidemic were to worsen, there would be bloodbath all around as the Syria stands off-the-cuff lacking all medical equipments and professional healthcare. The problem of these severely damaged regions is of financial hostility. Majority of such populations live below the poverty line.
According to a recent survey, 83 percent of the Syrian population live bogged in poverty and economy has been badly swooped away by ongoing human slaughter and destruction of properties. Fuel to fire has been added by those international sanctions of name which rendered it to become crippled enough by closing the doors of multinational companies and free trade.
However, the real demon is the armed business kept warm in these regions by big powers who exploit all the riches present there. This exploitation of worst type works such that only sporadic options of financial nourishment for the betterment of nations remain toyed in the hands of the power.
Now who to blame for this never-ending business plan? The West is the villain; it is the western countries who show much interest in building and using baleful weapons but invest very little for reconstruction, healthcare, development and goals of peace.
Coronavirus is likely to surge these regions in the coming days if necessary precautionary measures continued to be neglected. A few poor volunteers without any sound financial standing are constructing homemade ventilators and prototypes in these regions to combat the pandemic as they don’t have enough ventilators and healthcare facilities to coup with Covid-19. But that is not going to work anyway as we see counties even with best healthcare seeming helpless before the impatient virus!
There are currently only 256 breathing machines in West Bank and 87 more in Gaza Strip. However, more than ninety percent of the existing ventilators are already occupied by patients who suffer diseases other than the coronavirus. Most of these diseases are trauma-related — the suffering being the victims of famine brought by brawls of decades-long unjust violence! In most parts of Syria, for instance, people hardly have any access to food materials, let alone adequate healthcare.
Now moving to unfortunate children of these war-torn regions, coronavirus may severely affect them, particularly those who are born with heart problems, respiratory malfunctions, genetic syndromes, and other lethal diseases as a result of besieged atmosphere which they live in.
Irony is that world powers and so-called peace ambassadors have never been moved by the plight of these innocent tulips. I still remember that Syrian boy who succumbed to injuries due to a bomb blast, crying with pain, eyes full of tears, saying that “I will complain to God about all of you, I will tell him everything.”
Current circumstances reveal he has complained about us all!
In addition to immediate peace restorations, these deeply fractured regions need global attention, vaccines, relief packages and medical experts to sustain well. Otherwise Charles Darwin’s cruel doctrine of survival of the fittest is going to work hard for them. Worn-torn regions seem dabbling some respite, a rift in sufferings (although negligible) since coronavirus shook the globe. Years of violence have relegated from regions like Syria, Iraq, Yeman, Afghanistan, the peace of every sort and right to live normally. Tables are turning rounds now as nations which backed up most, the deadly injustice committed against hapless innocents, are vitiated, whittled, affected colossally and debased irrevocably by sudden and detonate surge of novel coronavirus. United States alone reported death toll of near about 50,000 in the past few weeks. These unlawful, blood voracious intruders have been chief architects of ongoing worldwide butchering of innocents.
However, today we all pray unitedly for the betterment of all — looking forward to a better world in the times to come. May Allah save the whole humanity; Aameen!
(Author is a student of mass communication and multimedia productions. He can be mailed at [email protected])
