A specialized Syrian search-and-rescue team has arrived in Venezuela to join urgent international relief efforts following two powerful earthquakes in the South American country last week.
Syria's Expertise from War and Disaster
More than 14 years of responding to the effects of a devastating civil war, as well as catastrophic earthquakes in 2023, have given Syrian first responders a rare level of field expertise in rescuing survivors from rubble and debris in complex situations. This experience, gained under extreme operational conditions, is now positioning the nation as a capable provider of international disaster response assistance.
The mission in Venezuela was described by authorities as a significant step in postwar Syria’s evolving humanitarian role that underscores its growing capacity to contribute to international disaster-response efforts, and reflects its efforts to position itself as a contributor to international humanitarian operations after years of receiving foreign disaster assistance itself.
Transformation from Aid Recipient to Provider
It was also said to highlight Syria’s transformation from a recipient of humanitarian aid following the devastating earthquake in northern and western Syria three years ago into a provider of search-and-rescue expertise capable of supporting other nations in similar times of crisis.
The mission is being carried out in partnership with the International Search and Rescue Team of Qatar’s Internal Security Force, also known as Lekhwiya; Syria is contributing experienced rescue teams while Qatar is providing the heavy machinery and specialized equipment required for field operations.
Minister's Statement on Solidarity
Raed Al-Saleh, Syria’s minister of emergency and disaster management, said the deployment embodied the principle that “Syria does not forget its own suffering, it transforms it into solidarity with others.” Reflecting on the aftermath of the earthquakes in February 2023, he recalled how the hardest-hit parts of Syria had remained beyond the reach of international rescue teams in the critical first few hours as a result of the political circumstances in the country at the time.
The regime of the former president, Bashar Assad, which was toppled by opposition forces in December 2024, prevented humanitarian teams and aid convoys from accessing affected areas in the countryside around Idlib and Aleppo.
“Faced with an unprecedented disaster and extremely limited resources, Syrian Civil Defense volunteers and local communities searched through the rubble with their bare hands in pursuit of survivors,” Al-Saleh said. “Despite the absence of international assistance, hundreds of lives were saved through determination, experience and sacrifice.”
Team's Background and Capabilities
The Syrian team sent to Venezuela is distinguished not only by its humanitarian commitment, officials said, but exceptional field experience accumulated during more than 14 years of war and the 2023 earthquakes, under some of the most challenging operational conditions in the world.
Hossam Badawi, director of training at the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management, and Wissam Zaidan, director of the Search and Rescue Program, said many members of the response team sent to Venezuela had previously served with Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the “White Helmets,” and acquired advanced levels of expertise in dealing with the extraction of trapped survivors in complex rubble operations.
This accumulated experience enabled Syrian rescue specialists to participate in international emergency response missions, they added.
Earthquake Details and UN Appeal
The deployment comes in response to two powerful earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, that struck Venezuela on June 24, followed by a series of aftershocks, and a UN appeal for urgent international assistance.
