Justice and Human Rights Syrian Arab Republic Project #21640

Syrian Refugee Crisis: CARE at the front lines

by CARE

Syrian Refugee Crisis: CARE at the front lines

Project Report | Jul 7, 2023
SYRIA: Needs remain immense, three months later

By CARE's Writing Team | Emergency Response Writer

Hygiene kits distributed in Jisr Alshoghor, Maland

TÜRKIYE AND SYRIA

Needs remain immense, three months later

Background

Three months later (May 2023), CARE and our partners continue the process of clearing debris. So far, we have helped to remove more than 18,000 m³ of rubble.

A series of devastating earthquakes hit southern Türkiye (Turkey) and northern Syria on February 6, 2023, including a 7.8-magnitude earthquake and more than 2,100 strong aftershocks. Hundreds of thousands of buildings were reduced to rubble, killing more than 60,000 people and injuring thousands more. Nearly 19 million people were directly impacted by the earthquakes across both countries, including 7.1 million children, according to UNICEF. The provinces closest to the epicenter in Türkiye were home to 15 million people, including 1.8 million Syrian refugees. More than 2 million people were evacuated by the Turkish government or have registered with government services since the earthquakes struck. In Northwest Syria – the part of the country most affected by the earthquakes – about half of the population of 4.6 million people were already displaced before February.

In the months that have passed since the first round of earthquakes, the region has continued to face recurring smaller earthquakes with a magnitude between 4.0 and 4.9 along with heavy rains that have caused widespread flooding. In Syria, at least 50 camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) flooded, damaging or destroying more than 3,000 tents. This flooding exacerbates concerns about the spread of waterborne and vector-borne diseases (like malaria or dengue). In IDP camps in Syria, 64% of people do not have access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities. As a result, there are already 60,000 suspected cases of cholera in the region, a number that can grow exponentially unless a significant investment is made.

Emergency supplies ready for distribution.

Displaced families also face a wide range of other significant health concerns – both physical and mental. With health facilites damaged and intermittent supply lines, people have not had sufficient access to basic health services since February. In Türkiye alone, an estimated 20,000 pregnant women will need emergency obstetric care in the coming months, as well as thousands more who will also need maternal, neo-natal and infant health services. In Syria, 80% of IDPs are women and girls – most of whom will need safe and dignified access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Impacted families are also struggling to recover from the trauma of the earthquake and displacement. In Northwest Syria, there are at least 1 million people in need of psychosocial support, but reportedly only 24 psychologists in the area.

CARE’s Response

CARE launched a comprehensive emergency response strategy in the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes, delivering humanitarian aid, ranging from clothing to tents, mattresses, blankets, food and non-food items, as well as portable WASH facilities and WASH materials in both Türkiye and Northwest Syria. CARE is working closely with longstanding and trusted partners, as well as other international non-governmental organizations and relevant government partners, to ensure that response activities are coordinated to reduce redundancy and ensure that we can reach the greatest number of people efficiently and effectively.

Around the world, we see women’s and girls’ specific needs often being overlooked in times of crisis. That is why our teams have conducted a series of assessments in order to ensure that our response considers the needs of the most vulnerable members of the community – including not only women and girls, but also people with disabilities and the many unaccompanied children who have been separated from their parents in the aftermath of the earthquakes.

Türkiye

Delivery of hygiene kits in Sanliurfa.

To date, CARE has reached approximately 37,600 people in Türkiye with essential supplies. Over the past three months, CARE has distributed 167,000 liters of bottled drinking water and 2,626 hygiene kits to people who still have limited access to suitable WASH infrastructure. In addition to essential items, the hygiene kits contain supplies to ensure the dignity of displaced families, like underwear, a hair scarf, socks, a hairbrush with mirror, anti-lice shampoo, wet wipes, whistle, flashlight, Vaseline, a comprehensive sewing kit and deodorant. We have also provided 317 families with kitchen kits so they can prepare their own food and distributed 3,500 blankets and sets of warm clothes to keep families warm during cold winter nights.

In response to recent flooding in Sanliurfa, CARE’s teams are working closely with local municipalities to ensure that families have access to basic necessities like personal hygiene items and food rations. In the coming weeks, we aim to provide 5,500 hygiene kits and 5,500 food baskets for flood-affected families who have also been impacted by the February earthquakes, particularly those in hard-to-reach groups in rural and informal sites.

CARE has provided 1,439 tents to displaced families in Northwest Syria. Here, CARE staff sit with a woman who is now living in a tent in Aleppo.

Syria

To date, CARE has reached more than 572,800 people through our emergency response in Northwest Syria. In close collaboration with our partners, CARE has provided 1,439 tents to displaced families as well as 8,400 kitchen sets that will enable families to cook their own food. We have also distributed 14,800 hygiene kits and 7,680 kits with other essential non-food items. In addition, CARE – together with our local partners – has continued to help clear the rubble left behind by the earthquakes in February. To date, we have helped to remove more thans 18,000m³ of debris in Idlib province.

Prior to the earthquakes less than 60% of hospitals and health clinics were fully operational in Northwest Syria. In order to ensure that vulnerable people have access to basic health care services, CARE has launched four mobile medical units to provide general health consultations, nutrition services, WASH assistance and other services. Since 80% of the displaced population in Northwest Syria is female, CARE has also invested heavily in ensuring access to SRH services, including through three SRH clinics in Aleppo and Idlib. CARE also supports a maternity and pediatric hospital in Aleppo and three emergency obstetric and newborn care centers in Aleppo and Idlib provinces to ensure the health and safety of mothers and their newborn children.

Human Interest Story

Thank God, Our Home Did Not Become Our Grave

Atanur and his family were forced to flee their home in Hatay province, Türkiye, following the February 6 earthquakes. For the past three months, he has been living in the Grant Plaza Temporary Accommodation center in Iskenderun with his spouse and his son, relying on humanitarian aid to cover the family’s daily needs. “We worked for more than 30 years and bought a house, but now we have no home… Thank God, our home did not become our grave.”

Atanur inside his temporary shelter within the Grant Plaza Temporary Accommodation Center in Iskenderun

Hygiene problems prevail in temporary accommodation centers in the earthquake zone, made worse by the fact that the centers are almost all overcrowded. “There are 85 tents in this camp, and there are two men’s and two women’s showers, along with four toilets,” he explains. CARE and our partners distributed hygiene kits and provided safe and clean water and mobile latrines in Grant Plaza Temporary Accommodation Center and in the greater Hatay area. “The cleaning supplies have really helped us,” he says. The supplies lasted his family for a full month, which helped the family maintain their health and dignity.

The impact of the earthquakes is deeply felt in every facet of life. The trauma of the earthquake compounded by displacement and homelessness take a toll on the mental health of people. “It is not a great life, as you can see,” he says to CARE staff conducting a check-in visit. “We are under a lot of stress. Even if the psychosocial support teams are brought here, what can we tell them? Before the earthquake, I used to cook for a private company’s service. My biggest problem right now is idleness.”

Atanur is one of millions of people whose lives were turned upside down on February 6, 2023. It will take months if not years for his family to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. CARE’s teams in both Türkiye and Syria are committed to supporting earthquake-affected families for the long-term, helping to not only rebuild the physical infrastructure that was destroyed, but also markets, businesses and food production, among many other areas.

Funding Target

CARE seeks to raise $80 million over the course of three years – including $65 million in the first year – to provide lifesaving assistance to people affected by the earthquakes, and to support the medium and long-term recovery of the region. Some examples of how your gift could help families affected by the earthquakes include:

$35 can provide a family with a set of five blankets;
$37 can provide a family with a kit of essential hygiene supplies;
$40 can provide a family with a basic kitchen set so they can continue to prepare their own food; and
$69 can provide a family with an electric heater.

Conclusion

The devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria and February have forever altered the lives of millions of people in the region, including members of the CARE family. For the people of Northwest Syria, the earthquakes have displaced far too many families that had already been displaced – in some cases multiple times – before. CARE will continue to deliver critical aid and support families as they are forced to rebuild their lives from the ground up. On behalf of the people and communities impacted by CARE’s response, we thank you for your generous contribution to the Türkiye and Syria Earthquake Response fund.[1]

“Given the scale of the disaster in Türkiye and Northwest Syria, it will take months and years to help people recover. We will do everything in our power to avoid the further deterioration of an already catastrophic situation, by helping people to return to safe homes and to rebuild their lives once again.” – Sherine Ibrahim, Country Director of CARE Türkiye

[1] In order to effectively manage the current emergency response and continue to be able to deploy resources for other emergencies, CARE will reserve 20% of donations to the earthquake response to cover technical support, administration and emergency preparedness expenses, including the rapid deployment of staff to emergencies such as this one.

Links:

https://www.care.org/news-and-stories/press-releases/care-and-irc-call-for-unsc-renewal-of-critical-syria-cross-border-aid-resol

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Mar 30, 2023
Turkiye and Syria - Deadly Earthquakes

By CARE's Writing Team | CARE

Dry food truck being unloaded in Sanliurfa.

CARE reaches nearly 232,800 people in first month following deadly earthquakes

Background

Before dawn on February 6, southern Türkiye (Turkey) and northern Syria were struck by a series of devastating earthquakes, including a 7.8-magnitude earthquake and more than 2,100 strong aftershocks. The earthquakes directly impacted 9.1 million people across both countries, with the death toll surpassing 50,000 over the past month. Heroic search and rescue missions uncovered thousands from the rubble, including approximately 116,700 people who have been injured by the shocks. The earthquakes have severely damaged or destroyed 164,321 buildings in Türkiye, leaving approximately 1.9 million people homeless. In northern Syria, where the people and the landscape are both scarred by a 12-year civil war, the earthquakes have displaced tens of thousands for the second time.

An estimated 460,000 people are crowded into temporary shelters in Türkiye, including a growing number of unaccompanied children. Many families have been separated in the confusion following the earthquakes, and thousands of children have lost their parents or guardians.

Much of the damage is concentrated in areas that were already responding to humanitarian crises. In Türkiye, the most earthquake-affected provinces are also the same provinces that had been hosting the majority of Syrian refugees, and in Northwest Syria, 2.8 million people were already displaced inside the country prior to the earthquake. Other pre-earthquake challenges, like rampant inflation and a global disruption of essential food supply chains, have also equally impacted communities on both sides of the border. Without urgent action, vulnerable families risk falling into a vicious cycle of poverty and despair.

CARE’s Response

In the past few weeks, access to earthquake-affected areas has improved. The roads connecting Adana, Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman and Malatya are now mostly cleared, enabling more humanitarian convoys to bring supplies to affected families. The airports in Hatay and Gaziantep have also reopened, which has been critical for the importation of humanitarian supplies from international actors. CARE’s team, in partnership with government and non-governmental partners, are actively delivering essential supplies in both Türkiye and Syria, including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) materials; tents; blankets; food; multi-purpose cash assistance; and other emergency items.

CARE has lauched several assessments of the damage and impacts of the earthquakes, including rapid gender analyses. CARE’s first policy brief on the gender-specific impacts of the earthquakes is available online here. Emergencies always exacerbate inequalities, putting vulnerable groups – particularly women and girls – at even greater risk. For example, there are an estimated 148,000 pregnant women in the earthquake-affected areas in Northwest Syria alone, of whom, 37,000 are expected to deliver in the next three months and more than 5,000 will likely require emergency obstetric care at a time when medical facilities and supplies are severely limited.

Türkiye

In Türkiye, CARE is working closely with the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) to deliver supplies to vulnerable people in earthquake areas. Our response targets both communities that were directly impacted by the earthquakes and neighboring districts that are now playing host to a large influx of displaced people – many of whom do not have homes to return to. Each district has unique needs, and CARE is careful to adapt our strategy to each context. For example, in Hatay’s capital city, Antakya, there are currently no operational markets, so instead of a cash and voucher approach, CARE is procuring and distributing much-needed items.

To date, CARE has reached 26,767 people in Türkiye with essential supplies. Our deliveries over the past few weeks have provided 1,031 people with flour to make bread and 3,600 people with food packages that can feed a family for one month. In order to stave off the harsh winter cold, CARE has also provided blankets to 3,500 people, electric heaters to 1,440 families and warm winter clothes to 675 people. Finally, to ensure the health and dignity of affected families, CARE has provided hygiene kits to 8,100 people, bottled water to 11,138 people and access to portable toilets to more than 6,000 people.

CARE has also resumed our “helpline,” which provides important information about municipal services and shelters, food distribution locations, evacuation points and other time-sensitive announcements. We are also in the process of establishing a new office in Hatay to bring our teams closer to the communities we serve.

Syria

CARE’s teams are well positioned to take on a leadership role in the international humanitarian response in Syria, due to our history of working in the region and existing partnerships with local entities. As co-lead of the Shelter and Non-Food Item Cluster convened by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and a participant in several other clusters and working groups, CARE is a trusted partner for local and international organizations alike.

Overall, CARE has reached 206,032 people so far with our response in Northwest Syria. Our cross-border operations in northwest Syriarecommenced on February 9, with a convoy of six trucks crossing at the U.N.- sanctioned Bab Al-Hawa border crossing. Since then, CARE reached 8,628 people with food security and livelihoods assistance, including multipurpose cash assistance that empowers families to make their own decisions on what to buy and when. In addition, CARE has reached 1,736 people with health interventions and 148,759 people with shelter assistance during these harsh winter months. CARE and our partners have also provided access to essential water, sanitation and hygiene services to 166,049 people to reduce the spread of waterborne diseases, like cholera.

CARE always puts women and girls at the center – including in the design and implementation of our humanitarian responses. To ensure the safety and dignity of women and girls following the catastrophic earthquakes, CARE has established new safe spaces in Idleb and Aleppo. To date, we have reached 2,489 people with protection assistance.

Human Interest Story

Ayham Taha, 33, is CARE’s technical advisor for humanitarian food security and livelihoods in Türkiye, and works on several projects in Türkiye and Northern Syria. He and his wife are Syrian and have been working in humanitarian aid since the conflict in Syria started. This is how Ayham recounts his and his family’s experience since the earthquakes on February 6, 2023.

The earthquake hit us at 4:17 in the morning. I immediately took my wife’s hand, picked up my 5-year-old son in my arms and ran out of the house as quickly as possible. Everything was shaking and people were screaming. Outside, it was cold and dark.

We could not go back into our house, because the building could collapse at any time. Through friends, we heard that a collective center was open in my son’s school, but with all of the aftershocks I was not sure if the school was stable enough. Nearly every hour, there was a new aftershock. There was a lot of panic. My wife and I tried to calm our son down and tell him everything is going to be ok. We discussed the safest options, and finally decided to stay in our car – like so many others. It was freezing cold, so we kept our engine running the whole time, to have at least some warmth. I could hardly sleep, keeping an eye on the gasoline indicator, which was slowly but surely getting lower and lower.

The mood in Gaziantep is a mixture of sadness and desperation, but also of immense human warmth and solidarity. Many people had to leave their wallets inside the buildings that collapsed after being evacuated. Still, local restaurants help by giving out soup and fruits. People are helping each other survive. I see shopkeepers offering children more food and some chocolate, knowing this might comfort them. It is amazing to see how people come together to help each other in this way.

Still, the situation remains very difficult. I feel exhausted and stressed. I even started smoking – I have never smoked before in my life! But I consider myself really lucky: I have not lost anyone close to me.

I knew that my family could not stay in Gaziantep, so on Thursday [February 9], after sleeping in our car for three nights, we left for Mardin – a city about 200 kilometers east of Gaziantep. I drove slowly, as the roads were severely damaged. We were really scared. There was a lot of traffic, as many people were trying to evacuate the city. Once we reached Mardin, I found a couple of hotels that were fit for accommodation. I immediately called my manager at CARE and we decided that we would move the rest of the CARE staff here. We set up a makeshift office in the hotel lobby. People were sitting around with their laptops, eager to organize how we can get much-needed support to the people who need it the most, prioritizing the delivery of equipment to emergency shelters like tents, mattresses, and blankets, as well as hygiene and dignity kits to women and girls who are especially affected by this crisis.

We as CARE cannot prevent disasters like this, but we can improve the conditions for the people affected!

Funding Target

CARE seeks to raise $80 million over the course of three years – including $65 million in the first year – to provide lifesaving assistance to 363,000 people affected by the earthquakes, and to support the medium and long-term recovery of the region. Some examples of how your gift could help families affected by the earthquakes include:

$35 can provide a family with a set of five blankets;
$37 can provide a family with a kit of essential hygiene supplies;
$40 can provide a family with a basic kitchen set so they can continue to prepare their own food;
$69 can provide a family with an electric heater; and
$173 can provide a family with warm clothes to survive the winter.

Conclusion

More than 23 million people have been affected by the earthquakes, including CARE staff. The full extent of the damage caused remains to be seen, but CARE is prepared to deliver critical aid and support families as they are forced to rebuild their lives from the ground up. On behalf of the people and communities impacted by CARE’s response, we thank you for your generous contribution to the Türkiye and Syria Earthquake Response fund.[1]

Links:

Syria: The things they went back for

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Dec 2, 2022
Eleven Years of Conflict in Syria

By CARE's Emergency Response Team | CARE's Writing Team

Eleven years of conflict in Syria have resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. In 2022, 14 million people are in need of humanitarian aid and protection assistance – almost 3 million people more than 2020.[1] More than 7 million people have fled to neighboring countries such as Turkey and Jordan, while some 6.7 million people have been displaced within Syria. The crisis has escalated to new levels, driven by a severe economic crisis, intensified regional hostilities, mass displacement, the COVID-19 pandemic and a widely devastated public service infrastructure. Some 90% of the population lives below the poverty line and more than 80% are food insecure.[2]

[1] U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Syrian Humanitarian Response Plan 2022-2023. https://hum-insight.info/plan/1088

[2] World Food Programme. Hunger, poverty and rising prices: How one family in Syria bears the burden of 11 years of conflict. https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/hunger-poverty-and-rising-prices-how-one-family-syria-bears-burden-11

CARE has been responding to the humanitarian needs caused by conflict in Syria since 2013 – reaching more than 9 million people since the beginning of the crisis. In addition to this lifesaving work, we continue to provide assistance to refugee and host communities in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, working tomeet emergency needs and helping plant the seeds for a resilient and sustainable future.

In the pages that follow we provide some key examples of CARE's response in each country.

Links:

Attachments:

Syria_response_update_82022_1.pdf (PDF)

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