Türkiye (Turkey) and Syria Earthquakes

What is the Situation After the Türkiye and Syria Earthquakes?

On February 6, 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple severe aftershocks hit Türkiye (Turkey) and northwest Syria, creating a complex humanitarian emergency.

In Syria, the death toll is over 5,800 people and there are more than 10,000 recorded injuries. Most casualties are in northwest Syria, where there were at least 4,400 deaths and over 8,000 injuries. Across Syria and Türkiye, nearly 23 million people are displaced or in need of humanitarian assistance.

Humanitarian access is severely limited for the 5.3 million people in northwest Syria in need of emergency assistance and humanitarian relief, most of whom are women and children. The crisis resulting from the earthquake, combined with nearly 12 years of civil war in the region, is making humanitarian need more extreme.

Across the worst-affected areas in Syria, women and girls face displacement, food insecurity, lack of adequate health services, and loss of education and economic opportunities. They face increased exposure to sexual and gender-based violence and heightened health risks due to a lack of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services. As the crisis continues and the earthquake recovery process begins, harmful gender norms and practices such as child, early, and forced marriage will persist.

WRC’s Priorities After the Türkiye and Syria Earthquakes

The Women’s Refugee Commission is particularly concerned with how the earthquakes in Türkiye (Turkey) and Syria have affected women and girls who face displacement, food insecurity, lack of adequate health services, and loss of education and economic opportunities. We call on all humanitarian stakeholders to:

• Recognize the skills, expertise, and capacity of women-led and women’s rights civil society organizations already working throughout Syria. International donors must increase, scale up, and amplify support to Syria’s women-led organizations and engage with them as decision-makers and equal partners in delivering frontline emergency assistance and facilitating long-term crisis recovery.
• Demand that governments that impose sanctions regimes on Syria issue humanitarian waivers to increase access to humanitarian assistance to areas within Syria controlled by the Syrian government and de facto authorities.
• Ensure unfettered access to humanitarian assistance for all affected Syrians. Allow unobstructed passage for medical supplies and medicines, ambulances, shelter materials and non-food items, emergency food and water, sanitation and hygiene assistance, and equipment necessary for debris removal and other recovery operations.
• Take accurate and comprehensive assessments of the needs and priorities of all affected people and ensure that all marginalized and criminalized populations are included and actively engaged in assessments, planning, and implementation of humanitarian assistance. Ethnic and religious minorities, older people, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ individuals, and all affected people must not be left behind.
• Ensure that all women, girls, and female-bodied individuals receive comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) quickly and safely, and without discrimination. Increase access to lifesaving health services, including contraception, post-rape services, and maternal health care.
• Prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and remove barriers to SGBV services. Address the particular SGBV risk factors for youth and adolescent girls.
• Prioritize economic security and inclusion of Syrian women and girls in humanitarian response by providing support to Syria’s women-led organizations.

How to Help Survivors of the Türkiye and Syria Earthquakes

You can send a tweet to show support of those affected by the humanitarian crisis developing due to the earthquakes in Türkiye (Turkey) and Syria.

WRC’s Advocacy on the Türkiye and Syria Earthquakes

WRC is committed to ensuring the needs and rights of those displaced by the Türkiye and Syria earthquakes are protected. Below is a list of WRC’s advocacy work in the aftermath of the earthquakes.