Earthquake Has Escalated Refugee Crisis

The two earthquakes that hit Syria and Türkiye early Monday morning have had disastrous effects, with the death toll rising above 21,500 and leaving 380,000 displaced in Türkiye and 298,000 displaced in Syria. This number is expected to rise as rescue missions are underway and the Syrian opposition-controlled areas have not yet reported their numbers of displaced persons. Harsh weather conditions and slow aid responses have had severe impacts on refugee-dominant areas in Syria and Türkiye. 

Prior to the destructive effects of the earthquake, Syria has already been faced with the challenges of its humanitarian crisis provoked by the country’s civil war. One region in Syria with an escalated migrant crisis is Idlib in the northwest, run by Türkiye-backed rebel forces. This region has been hosting 4.1 million who were already relying on aid and humanitarian assistance, with those numbers representing mostly women and children. Refugees in Idlib rely on tents in refugee camps or buildings destroyed by bombings for shelter. This already exhausted infrastructure has taken an even greater toll from the earthquake, leaving humanitarian assistance a greater need than ever. The first UN envoy carrying humanitarian aid has finally reached Idlib as of Thursday, with further pledges from the UN announcing US $25 million to the relief efforts. Total infrastructure loss in Idlib includes the loss of two hospitals. As the temperature in this region drops into the minus, the need for shelter and warm clothing has reached its limit, and rescue teams continue to feel the strain of this. Snow and low temperatures have contributed to reports of power outages in the region, which have overwhelmed the capabilities of hospitals in the region. Back-up power generations are not expected to last long due to the increasing fuel shortage the region is experiencing. To make matters worse, the refugee population in Idlib has been tackling a Cholera outbreak.  With accusations of life-saving humanitarian aid being “politicised”, the potential help has struggled to reach the vulnerable refugees. Limited aid has reached the region, with reports of hygiene kits along with other aid entering through the Idlib Bab al-Hawa crossing being some of the first aid to get to the region, as part of aid scheduled to arrive prior to the earthquake. This has outlined how severe the situation in Idlib was pre-earthquake and how now the situation continues to escalate. The situation is now more critical than ever, and the need for life-saving aid is essential to ensure the survival of the refugee population. 

Türkiye is also home to 3.5 million refugees who have mainly fled from Syria, and this number consists mostly of children. The epicentre of the earthquake was close to the town of Gaziantep, this town is the host to half a million Syrians who hoped one day to make it to Europe. Struck once again by tragedy, the refugees in this town have found themselves displaced. Images of thousands of refugees who have been forced to set up make-shift camps outside due to damage and collapse of their homes. Those refugees in the town have already dealt with lower economic and social conditions. As refugees, they have had to settle in the poorer parts of the town. Many refugees in the area have described the situation as traumatic, leaving them with similar emotions and feelings to that of fleeing the war in Syria, described as post-traumatic stress disorder. Many countries have responded to the catastrophe; for example, the UK has sent a team of 77 to operate search-and-rescue teams along with equipment to Gaziantep in order to improve the rescue missions, and a team of medical professionals has also joined, with further promises from the World Bank to provide US $1.7 Billion of aid to Türkiye. The wake of the earthquake in Türkiye communities affected has also dealt with lowering temperatures and the impact of this on those displaced. The earthquakes have hit hardest in refugee dense populations, and aid has already struggled to reach these areas due to previously underfunded aid programmes, and the earthquake has only made this more difficult. While organisations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have not been able to fully pinpoint the number affected, it is believed this population is to be the one most hard hit.