IOM appeals for $161 million for quake-affected Syria, Turkey
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched appeals for $161 million to support people in earthquake-hit areas in Turkey and northwest Syria.
“We appeal to the international community to support relief efforts and mobilize financial resources quickly to meet the rising and urgent needs,” said IOM’s Director General António Vitorino.
At dawn on Feb. 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Syria and Turkey, reporting more than 45,000 confirmed fatalities and many more people injured or displaced in both countries, the earthquake also caused immense destruction of buildings, trapping thousands under the rubble.
As many quake-affected people in both countries become homeless, many humanitarian and relief organizations, including IOM, are trying to provide immediate humanitarian aid, including blankets, sleeping bags, heaters, tents, hygiene materials, food, clothing, beds, portable showers, and toilets as well as transportation assistance and medicine to those affected.
The Organization is working with local and national authorities in Turkey to identify the basic needs of the affected communities, as well as it expressed its readiness to expand its support in northwest Syria to ensure more people receive necessary assistance.
The IOM is the first organization to use the newly opened border crossings al-Rai and Bab al-Salameh, sending the first convoy of aid including 80 quake-aid trucks into northwest Syria.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to allow United Nations aid deliveries to opposition-held areas in northwest Syria through two additional border crossings with Turkey for three months, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Feb. 13.
“Opening these crossing points … will allow more aid to go in faster,” Guterres added.