A year since the Turkish-Syrian earthquake, what is the reality of these days?
This time last year, Shaghaf’s team responded through an urgent relief campaign after a horrible earthquake hit south Turkey and north Syria, which caused the loss of more than sixty thousand Turkish and Syrian people living in the area.
Thousands of people who lived and those who were in areas affected by the earthquake suffered many losses. They lost their loved ones, their homes, their jobs, and the simple details of their regular lives.
It was one of the most challenging and complicated relief campaigns we have worked on at the Shaghaf Volunteering Foundation, especially with the volunteer team arriving merely hours after the disaster. We had to deal with our feelings and trauma after witnessing what became of the land while simultaneously working on providing fast and immediate solutions to help those affected. This relief campaign lasted nonstop from the first day of the earthquake until three months after and during this past year.
One year after the disaster, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated in a press conference: “We lost 53,537 people, and 107,213 of our citizens were injured during the earthquakes that caused great destruction.” The earthquake affected 11 Turkish provinces, covering an area of 120,000 square kilometers and affecting 14 million Turkish and Syrian citizens at varying levels, which makes this earthquake one of the most influential and destructive earthquakes in history.
The aftershocks destroyed 38,901 buildings, according to the Turkish Ministry of Interior, which reported that 645,000 shelter tents had been erected to house 2.5 million people temporarily. 650,000 relief personnel also came to the affected areas, including 11,500 from outside Turkey. About a year after the disaster, about 700,000 people still live in tents.
Syrian refugees suffered from harsh living circumstances for years before the disastrous earthquake happened in southern Turkey. They have sought asylum in a new country, searching for a dignified life; they’ve lived and shared houses and cities with Turkish people in their attempt to coalesce and find job opportunities. They’ve occupied several jobs and established a new life away from the ongoing conflict in Syria. However, the Turks were not the only ones affected by the disaster. The impact was doubled for the Syrians who were settled in affected cities and lost their homes, families, jobs, and everything they’ve built in their recent refugee years.
International relief institutions and local and international non-governmental associations established many official and random camps. Most affected refugees settled in random camps, as the Turkish government allowed those who did not agree to do so to return to Northern Syria voluntarily. In the affected areas, the ones who decided to stay in Turkey embarked on a new torment-filled journey, much worse than the one before.
According to the latest statistics of August 2023, the number of Syrian refugees residing in refugee camps reached 73,854, considering that at the beginning of the year, the number did not pass forty-seven thousand.
Syrian refugees are struggling to find job opportunities. After relatively settling in and working in various available fields in Southern Turkey, today, the cities have lost the ability to employ citizens, not to mention refugees or foreigners. According to Shaghaf’s team’s latest field visit in Hatay province, Antakya city – our institution’s leading working site in Turkey – it is pretty apparent how hard it is to provide basic requirements without job opportunities and stable income for the people. Who previously, even if some lived in tents, worked in the fields and factories to provide, no matter how little, for their families. Which consequently amplifies the humanitarian need for massive relief institutions’ intervention.
Moreover, the educational standing of the children has been paused since the earthquake hit last year. The schools were either fully or partially damaged, which led to instability and irregularity for the kids and students, excluding those who lived in governmental camps that provided education for its residents.
We’ve accompanied our people on the Turkish-Syrian border for nearly five years. After this disaster happened, the need and our responsibility towards them were amplified, which propelled us to be extensively present since the first day of the earthquake, not just during the first three months, but rather during the whole of last year, implementing our plan and sustainable projects alongside our continuous relief work.
Following our tradition of the past years, we’ve launched the winter campaign to help Syrian refugees on the Turkish-Syrian border. The necessity of the campaign this year – despite the devastating conditions of our homeland – comes to lend a hand to Syrian refugees who are still suffering from the destructive earthquake to this day, in addition to their previous primary refugee struggles.
Blogs date 12 Feb Subscribe to our newsletter
