The people of Türkiye and Syria, which were struck by two terrible earthquakes on February 6, are in need of long-term help and solidarity.
The level of agony and pain is extreme, and support is desperately needed. This humanitarian effort is not being done quickly. It’s a long race. We call on the international community to support the people of Syria and Türkiye not just in the ensuing days but also in the months and years needed for recovery.
Shelter, medical and mental health treatment, food, and water are the most pressing needs as the window for life-saving search and rescue unfortunately closes.
The NYCFPA is continuing to increase global aid, bringing across borders the resources and commodities that are urgently required for regional relief efforts.
The earthquake’s aftermath is one of complete desolation. Schools, residences, hospitals, and other facilities are all destroyed. The fact that so many people are still missing and trapped under the rubble is the most heartbreaking reality. Finding survivors has less and less possibility. Time is slipping away quickly. Response attempts are very difficult. Access to affected areas has been hampered by the destruction of numerous roads and other infrastructure. Freezing winter temperatures and aftershocks are also impeding their efforts and placing rescuers in grave danger.
The Turkish Red Crescent has sent more than 4,000 employees and volunteers to the impacted districts of Türkiye along with supplies of food and basic medical supplies to help the injured and evacuated. Their teams reached 284,000 people with ready-to-eat kits and served 3.5 million hot meals to people in the open air and at shelters for the homeless. Turkish Red Crescent is urging individuals all around Türkiye to donate blood in order to satisfy the country’s increasing blood demand. They have also sent their national blood supply to the afflicted areas.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent has been providing life-saving aid to around 60,000 individuals in Syria by mobilizing 4,000 volunteers and employees in some of the country’s worst-affected regions, including Hama, Aleppo, Lattakia, and Tartous. The first aid, emergency evacuations, and hospital transport have all been handled by medical units. More than 42,000 packages of food, water, basic necessities, and hygiene kits have been given out by volunteers on the ground, who have also been offering services for repairing family ties.
In order to lessen distress and, if necessary, refer individuals for long-term mental health care, Red Crescent National Societies in both Türkiye and Syria offer mental health and psychological help to those in need.
Teams from the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are cooperating to offer first assistance and food distribution in the refugee camps for Palestinians in Syria. Its response teams, which offer ambulances, clinics, physicians, and volunteers, are mostly concentrated on the Palestinian camps in Aleppo and Latakia.
