Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/GENEVA: The United Nations (UN) has said that the devastating earthquake around the Turkish-Syrian border has struck an area home to millions of refugees already battling challenging circumstances.
UN Trying To Reach Out to Refugees
The UN said on Tuesday that it was trying to reach out to refugees affected by the 7.8-magnitude quake, and its existing aid programmes needed more funds.
“We don’t have a clear idea about the exact number of refugees impacted, and we might not for some days, but we fear the number might be significant,” said Matthew Saltmarsh, spokesman for the UNHCR, noting that the epicenter of the earthquake was close to areas with high concentrations of refugees.
He told reporters in Geneva that some areas are hard to reach, slowing a “comprehensive assessment on damages and loss of lives.” Turkey is home to more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees who have fled their country’s civil war; almost half are children.
More than 1.7 million refugees from Syria
In the ten provinces in Turkey affected by the devastating quake, more than 1.7 million of the 15 million inhabitants are refugees from Syria.
UNHCR’s representative in Turkey, Philippe Leclerc, said that in Kilis province, half of the population is refugees from Syria, while in Hatay, Gaziantep, and Sanliurfa, the no is one in four or five.
“These ten regions are also hosting the largest refugee population in the world,” he told Tuesday’s briefing via video.
Meanwhile, more than 6.8 million people were internally displaced within Syria before the quake, and nearly 60,000 refugees from Palestine were in quake-hit northern Syria.
For the Syrian refugees who have already endured more than a decade of conflict, an economic catastrophe, and winter storms, the earthquake was described by UNHCR as an “absolute hammer blow. The situation is tragic,” Leclerc said.
He said that most Syrian refugees in Turkey live among local inhabitants “in the same buildings which have collapsed and damaged. They are also taking part in the rescue work as volunteers. Only 47,000 live in seven temporary refugee camps in the ten quake-affected provinces.
Leclerc said, “These camps may be used where earthquake victims will be transferred.” He told UN agencies gave the Turkish government whatever aid they could, such as mattresses, tents, and kitchen sets.
Funding
UNHCR may start a separate earthquake appeal, but assessments of need are still in the early stages and are being hampered by severe winter weather.
The agency has pre-existing appeals for refugee programmes in both countries this year, but they need more cash. International donors currently fund 11 percent of the $348 million Turkey appeal and only seven percent of the $465 million Syria request.
Aid stockpiles
UNHCR has initiated distributing 30,000 core relief kits stockpiled in Syria — 10,000 each in Tartus, Aleppo, and Homs, in the northwest. These contain kitchen sets, mattresses, blankets, plastic sheeting, sleeping mats, and jerry cans. It will also provide winter clothing.
Additionally, the organization has 20,000 tents in Damascus and at least 19 sizable tent halls that can serve as welcome facilities or group shelters. It will take around 24 hours to get them outside of the capital.
Palestinian refugees in Syria
There are 12 camps of Palestinian refugees in Syria, hosting around 438,000 people. Three are in the quake-hit north: Neirab, the Latakia camp, and Ein el Tal outside Aleppo.
Tamara Alrifai, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said, “We are looking at 57,000 Palestine refugees who have been affected because they live in the refugee camps in the north.”
Alrifai said that UNRWA urgently needs $2.7 million to cover the needs of affected refugees. She added that UNRWA had confirmed the reports of six Palestinian refugees killed: two schoolgirls in Neirab and a family including mother, daughter, father, and son– in the Latakia camp.
She said, “We can expect the numbers of fatalities to continue increasing with blankets, medical supplies, mattresses, and hygiene items urgently needed.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, who visited the Aleppo camps a fortnight ago, said on Twitter, “This earthquake adds an unbelievable layer of misery.”
