2023/02/10

【Türkiye & Syria earthquakes】Second humanitarian disaster looms as children without shelter and water following earthquakes

Caption:
1. Save the Children staff distributing hot meals to people affected by the earthquake in Hatay, South Türkiye.
2-3. Noor*, 10, and baby Nada*, 11 months, (left) in a shelter in Syria supported by a Save the Children local partner
4. Machinery digs through rubble in Afrin District, Aleppo Governorate, Northwest Syria after the earthquake.

10 February 2023 – As the death toll passes 19,000 and keeps rising in Türkiye and Syria, hopes of finding more survivors are fading, a second humanitarian disaster is looming with countless survivors in freezing conditions without basics such as shelter, food, water and sanitation, said Save the Children.

Türkiye

Save the Children Türkiye emergency response team helped children and families living in temporary facilities across various locations. The organisation provided much needed hot meals for 500 people sheltering in a sports stadium in Hatay. Save the Children will also help people keep warm in the freezing temperatures by providing winter kits. In Hatay, we will distribute blankets, mattresses and sleeping bags. A tent area has been identified with enough space for tents for people who have lost their homes.“People like this family, who have already been through so much pain and suffering, now face a second humanitarian disaster, as many are left without shelter, food, and water.“Today, I visited Antakya in Hatay province. The whole town has been annihilated by the earthquakes and the people we’re meeting are telling us that they have nothing left in the city and they just want to leave. Their living conditions are bleak. They’re sleeping in cars or makeshift shelters, there are no toilets or running water. Without toilets people have no choice other than to relieve themselves outside, which could lead to waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, which are particularly deadly to children.

Syria

In North West Syria, Save the Children and partners have begun responding, providing emergency food rations, food for search and rescue workers and tents for children to keep warm and dry. The response in the North West was boosted today by news of the first UN aid convoy crossing from Türkiye – but needs are vast and growing daily across affected areas.“The situation across northwestern Syria is like no other crisis in the world right now. From losing family members to homes, to no food or clean water, the ripple effects of this disaster have affected every single child,” said Kathryn Achilles, Advocacy, Media and Communications Director for Save the Children Syria.

“The UN trucks arriving to support children in the North West today will provide vital assistance to desperate children and families, but these supplies are only the tip of the iceberg of what’s required. More efforts are needed to ensure that all children receive the assistance they desperately need.”

Noor*, 10, fled fighting in Aleppo and was living in Idlib when a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Türkiye and Syria at 4am on Monday, followed by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hours later. The earthquakes are estimated to have impacted 23 million people, many of whom are children like Noor.

“We went outside, and the ground was shaking, and there was a crack in the kitchen’s ceiling, and we were so scared we left the house,” Noor said, who is now living in a temporary shelter. “We went to the mosque, and they moved us here [to the temporary shelter]. We need clothes and heaters. It’s getting really cold.”

Save the Children is working closely with partners to provide heating supplies and temporary shelters, which are furnished with mattresses, insulated floors, blankets, clothing for children and wool hats, for families impacted by the earthquakes.

“We hope international organizations and the international community to help us get through this crisis, this disaster, and assist us in bringing in heavy machinery, help those still stuck under the rubble, to help those still alive and provide them with medical assistance.” said Anwar*, an aid worker at a partner organisation in North West Syria.

Children will need urgent support to access food, shelter and warm clothing to protect them against the elements. Please donate to support Save the Children effort in humanitarian response via their website. 
https://savethechildren.org.hk/en/turkey-and-syria-earthquake-donate-now/

If the general public has any questions about donations, they can phone 3160 8686 or email [email protected].

*Names had been changed to protect identitie