Dubai, United Arab Emirates – The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday pledged an additional $50 million in assistance to quake-hit Syria, local media reports said, bringing the total value of pledges to more than $100 million.
The announcement came more than nine days after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck Syria and Turkey, killing nearly 40,000 people.
It also followed an appeal by the United Nations on Tuesday for $397 million to help earthquake victims in the war-scarred country, where the disaster has left millions in desperate need of aid.
Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan “has ordered the provision of an additional US$50 million as relief aid for quake-affected people in Syria”, reports said.
Of the total sum, $20 million would be allocated to “humanitarian projects in response to the emergency appeal of the United Nations (UN)”, the report added.
The oil-rich Gulf nation that normalized relations with President Bashar al-Assad’s government in 2018 has led Syria’s quake response.
Last week, the country’s president pledged $50 million to Syria, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum promised assistance worth $13.6 million.
The UAE has sent 38 planes to Syria carrying more than 1,200 tons of food and medical aid, in addition to nearly 2,900 tents, according to reports.
It also dispatched a 42-member search and rescue team to the coastal Syrian city of Jableh, located in Latakia, a province under government control.
The assistance is the largest by a single nation to the war-torn country that was already grappling with a spiralling economic crunch and a deep humanitarian crisis even before the quake hit.
Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was in Syria at the weekend during which he met with Assad as well as the UAE’s search and rescue team.
His visit was the first by a senior Gulf official to Syria since the quake.