23 December 2022, 6 years ago, the evacuation of Aleppo and its inhabitants came to an end, after months of agonising bombardment of hospitals, schools and civilians. On this day of tribute to Aleppo, Professor Raphaël Pitti, a French doctor, Dr Hamza Al Kateab, a Syrian doctor and refugee from Aleppo, and Dr Konstantyne Pashchenko, a refugee from Kharkiv, decided to write a letter together to compare the tragedies of Aleppo in 2016 and Kharkiv in 2022.
Letter to people of goodwill by Prof. Raphaël Pitti
I’ve just returned from Ukraine, where a humanitarian mission took me to the city of Kharkiv. A strange feeling came over me. Gutted buildings, a city emptied of its inhabitants, between disenchantment and heartbreak, the martyred city of Kharkiv echoed my humanitarian missions to Aleppo in Syria. It was like déjà-vu for two towns with similar fates, that of a war crime where free populations are forced to flee under the bombs. Aleppo, Kharkiv, two martyred cities that respond to each other… When “never again” no longer seems to make sense.
In my journey, they are embodied in two encounters, two doctors who have marked my path: Dr Hamza Al Kateab, a Syrian doctor and refugee from Aleppo, whom I met in 2013, and Dr Konstantine Pashchenko, a Ukrainian paediatric surgeon and refugee from Kharkiv, whom I met in 2022. They have one thing in common: they both chose to stay in a bombed-out city and were forced to leave in the face of the tragedy of war. Two heroes of our time.
As we approach the Christmas and New Year festivities, which are synonymous with fraternity and solidarity, I asked them to join me in writing this symbolic and solemn letter to people of goodwill, first and foremost to those who can take action, to our European leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron first and foremost, and to the international community, to public opinion to bear witness. This six-handed letter pays tribute to two cities: Aleppo, emptied of its inhabitants forced to leave 6 years ago to the day in December 2022, and 6 years later, Kharkiv in March 2022, which also saw half its inhabitants flee under the bombs.
The agony of Aleppo by Dr Hamza Al Kateab
23 December 2022, like every year at this time for the last 6 years, the same feeling, the same pain, that of the day I was forced to leave everything, the land that saw me born, the land that saw me resist, my city of Aleppo, the cradle of civilisation to which I have given everything. I’m happy to be alive, to be with my family, my wife and my two adorable daughters, but still angry that I didn’t choose my destiny.
In 2011, I chose to stay to resist, to treat and to save lives. Not just as a doctor, but as an activist for peace and freedom. Massive bombardments, hospitals under attack, lack of everything – being a doctor in Aleppo was a constant risk. The hospital in Aleppo had become the most dangerous place in the world.
In 2016, I had no choice but to stay or die. Faced with the agony of Aleppo and after a ceasefire from 15 to 22 December, the city of East Aleppo was evacuated of its inhabitants, under UN supervision. What is often celebrated as a liberation is in reality a war crime, the macabre culmination of Aleppo’s agony.
“The transfer, direct or indirect, by an occupying power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory.”
Article 8 of the Geneva Convention describing the constituent elements of a war crime.
Today, if I have survived this tragedy, I owe it to myself to bear witness and denounce this war crime, which I experienced alongside millions of Syrians, not only in Aleppo, but also in Deraa, Ghouta, Idleb, etc. In 2022, the war in Ukraine and the people forced to leave, like us 6 years ago, give me a bitter taste of unfinished business as the world crumbles before our eyes. I feel in solidarity with their resistance and their fight. Every victory in Ukraine is also a victory for us, a hope that perhaps one day we will be able to return home.
Ukraine, an unexpected war in our lives by Dr Konstantine Pashchenko
On 24 February 2022, war came unexpectedly into our lives. We are stunned, frightened and lost in the face of something we never expected. What are we to do? The escalation of the bombing raids on the town of Kharkiv, barely 40 km from the front lines, got the better of us. I had to leave and get my family to safety. That was in March 2022. Leaving your home is not an easy thing to do, you feel as if you’ve been stunned, destroyed from the inside, you lose your footing. Very quickly, I wanted to regain control of my destiny, not just live in the shadow of these atrocities. In April, I decided to go back on my own. The hospital I was working for had been moved elsewhere to avoid the attacks. Today,every day, the sirens sound, warning us of the bombs that could attack us. There are three or four bombings a night. Our hospital has been targeted by attacks and has had to be partially evacuated. We have a constant influx of wounded, including many children with multiple injuries.
With power cuts due to the bombardments and a lack of diagnostic equipment, we have limited resources to provide the kind of care we used to. As a paediatric surgeon, the hardest thing is to see innocent children on operating tables. Despair is never far away when faced with the agony of a child. As for Dr Hamza Al Kateab, resilience is our source. Support in Europe and around the world helps us to hold on. The same should be true wherever the right to health is violated.
Dr. Hamza Al Kateab
Syrian doctor, co-founder of Action for Sama campaign
Dr. Konstantyne Pashchenko
Ukrainian paediatric surgeon
Mehad trainer (Ex-UOSSM France)
Prof. Raphaël Pitti
Head of Mehad training (Ex-UOSSM France)
Anaesthetist
