AI denounces that people with disabilities have been abandoned to their fate after the earthquakes

The NGO demands an “inclusive humanitarian response” and urges to guarantee the human rights of people with disabilities

27 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The NGO Amnesty International (AI) has denounced this Wednesday that people with disabilities have been abandoned to their fate after the earthquakes that struck southern Turkey in February and has demanded an “inclusive humanitarian response” from both the Government and the international community .

“The immense human suffering caused by earthquakes is exacerbated for people with disabilities, who are left behind by humanitarian response,” said Matthew Wells, Deputy Director of Research for AI’s Crisis Response Programme. , it’s a statement.

According to data compiled by the Turkish government and the United Nations, up to 70 percent of the people who were injured — more than 100,000 — will suffer some kind of disability in their lives due to the earthquakes, which resulted in the death of more than 48,000 people.

AI has denounced that “people without mobility or with reduced mobility could not access common facilities” in a general way in the 21 camps for displaced persons that its experts visited in the provinces of Adiyaman, Gaziantep, Hatay and Kahramanmaras, in the south of the country, the area most affected by the earthquakes.

The NGO, which has pointed out that the humanitarian response has not taken into account the specific needs of these people, has carried out 131 interviews, documenting in detail the experience of 34 people with disabilities: 15 men, ten women and nine minors.

“I don’t fix myself to use the communal bathrooms. My relatives have to help me move from the wheelchair to the toilet, and every time I use it they have to empty and clean it. Human beings need a bit of privacy and dignity , but in these circumstances it is very difficult to have them,” a 48-year-old Syrian refugee with an amputated leg told the NGO.

Likewise, another minor under the age of 13 who lost her right leg due to the earthquake, in which her mother also died, has stated that she has had to wear nappies and depend on her 18-year-old sister because she cannot access basic health services.

“Almost all the people with disabilities Amnesty International interviewed, including the elderly with reduced mobility, were dependents of relatives, unable to collect food or other items, such as personal hygiene kits, at the points of distribution”, has alerted the NGO.

In addition to the lack of mobility assistance for people with limited mobility, the NGO has also pointed out that there is a shortage of wheelchairs, as well as rehabilitation and mental health support services.

A 51-year-old woman with cancer has assured AI that her 17-year-old son, with a mental illness, does not have the necessary psychosocial support, so, given his disruptive behavior, a product of his condition, she has to tie him up in a foot so it doesn’t move.

For all these reasons, AI has called on the Turkish authorities and humanitarian agents to act urgently and protect and guarantee “the full exercise of Human Rights and freedoms of people with disabilities.”

“It is clear that the support provided to people with disabilities in the aftermath of the earthquakes is fundamentally flawed. The effects of this humanitarian catastrophe will leave scars for generations. It is essential that people with disabilities have equal access to facilities and services,” he said. settled by the director of AI’s regional office for Europe, Nils Muiznieks.