LEBANON: Activists based in Lebanon smuggle medicine across the border into Syria to help those wounded in a crackdown by the authorities

Record ID: 280395

  • Title: LEBANON: Activists based in Lebanon smuggle medicine across the border into Syria to help those wounded in a crackdown by the authorities
  • Date: 5th March 2012
  • Summary: UNDISCLOSED NORTHERN TOWN, LEBANON (RECENT) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF NORTHERN LEBANESE TOWN ON THE BORDER WITH SYRIA MORE OF HOMES IN TOWN REPORTER WALKING WITH ACTIVISTS IN TOWN HOME OF ACTIVIST / CHILDREN WALKING ABOUT BOXES OF MEDICINE AND AID ACTIVIST CARRYING PACKETS BOX OF ANTIBIOTICS ON THE FLOOR MORE OF BOXES OF MEDICINE AND FOOD ON THE GROUND (SOUNDBITE
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon, Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Conflict,Health,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA72CLCSJZPCR4MDM0D50JY3DK0
  • Story Text: The smuggling route to Syria through Lebanon has become vital not only for the delivery of weapons to rebel soldiers, but also for the much-needed blood and medicine, Syrian activists in Lebanon say.
    Syrian forces have intensified their violent response to the 11-month-old uprising against four decades of Assad family rule, especially in Homs's rebellious district of Baba Amr where the rebel army withdrew last week -- paving the way for the regular army to reconsolidate its grip.
    At a home in a northern Lebanon town, activists try to think of the best ways to deliver this aid to field hospitals and doctors who have little or basic medical equipment to treat the many who are wounded.
    Hundreds have been killed in a month-long bombardment of the Baba Amr district, activists say, and more die because of a lack of medicine and blood transfusion bags.
    The Red Cross is trying to get food and medical aid into the neighbourhood but has been held up by security forces for several days since Assad's troops entered Baba Amr.
    ''Sometimes, they ask us for medicine, sometimes people here donate. Here in Lebanon there are people who are helping, and there are donations being received from the outside,'' said one activist, hiding his face as he explained the careful process of trying to smuggle the medicine.
    Getting supplies in is complicated. Lurking in the darkness that blankets the mountains around the town, Syrian forces across the border hunt for activists, who must negotiate landmines and checkpoints. Sometimes the activists are hit by fire from their own comrades in the confusion of night operations.
    ''There are intelligence officers and thieves, our role is to tell these people (those smuggling in supplies) where to go and who to hand the aid to and at what time and about the contacts. And the people here don't know what is going on inside, who is the good person and who is the bad and there are a lot of spies inside who can harm us, us especially. The Lebanese will not be harmed as much as the Syrians if they are found out. In Lebanon, they have their country to protect them but for the Syrian, he is going to be harmed whether he is discovered in Lebanon or there, in Syria,'' the activist said.
    Smuggling has long been a profitable business between Syria and Lebanon. But even the high dividends of war profiteering is not enough to tempt professional smugglers to risk their lives. This is a job now left to activists who get advice from smugglers, but not much else.
    During the day, the town is calm but at night, gunfire can be heard as Syrian troops, smugglers and rebels play cat and mouse in the dark. Smugglers zip along on motorbikes. Only the glow of their cigarettes is visible as they rumble past, scoping the border.
    Sheikh Mleihan is an old Lebanese man draped in a black cloak with a red and white kerchief on his head. He shoos away children and chickens gathering around his door and points to boxes of antibiotics, sterile needles, infant milk formula and blood bags stacked inside.
    ''This is blood for Syria, God willing, for Baba Amr, to help the wounded there. These are provided by the good people and not a side or association but by people who are donating. I did not donate but I will help in the delivery,'' he said, pointing to the blood units waiting to be sent.
    Activists say they get their orders from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the loosely organised group of army deserters and rebels who say their insurgency is to protect civilian protesters. Their ties to the FSA make some suspect that weapons, as well as medicine, are being smuggled.
    Some activists privately acknowledged that they bring in weapons. Many fear that loose talk will increase scrutiny by Lebanese security forces.
    Activists say locals and Syrian exiles donate money for them. Some say hardline Islamist groups funded from the Gulf are involved.
    Some activists blame arms smugglers for making it more dangerous to transfer medical supplies.
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