Over 5 million quake-affected people need shelter in Syria – UNHCR
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated on Friday that 5.37 million people in the whole of Syria affected by the earthquake will need shelter assistance.
The UNHCR urged the Syrian government to allow access to the affected areas in the northwest.
At dawn on Feb. 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Syria and Turkey, killing about 50.000 and injuring many more. The earthquake also caused immense destruction of buildings, trapping thousands under the rubble.
In a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Sivanka Dhanapala, UNHCR Representative in Syria said there are already 6.8 million IDPs in the country.
In northwest Syria, “We hope that an agreement with the Government will allow for fast and regular access to these area,” Dhanapala stressed.
The UNHCR is focusing on shelter and relief items that the organization has been distributing since day one, focusing on all those impacted by the earthquake, according to Dhanapala.
For Syria, this is a crisis within a crisis, as economic shocks and COVID were overwhelming the country prior to the quake, he added, not to mention the blizzards that are raging the affected areas.
All this makes the access of aid “very, very difficult”, as roads have been damaged and that hampers the process of reaching people, according to the representative.
The UNHCR is looking at life-saving activity, including collective centers, tents, non-food items and so on, he stressed.
“We have just had a preliminary estimate that 5.37 million people affected by the quake will need shelter assistance in the whole of Syria. That is a huge number and comes to a population already suffering mass displacement,” Dhanapala noted.
In the next phase, the organization will focus on “debris removal, trying to support authorities and partners with equipment and capacity, [and] mobilizing engineers.”
The representative said that he will head to the Syrian governorates of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia next week.