The UN fears more than five million displaced in Syria by the earthquakes

Latest Turkey and Syria earthquake news

10 Feb. (EUROPS PRESS) –

The powerful earthquakes that shook parts of northern Syria on Tuesday could leave some 5.3 million displaced, people left homeless and to whom humanitarian agencies are trying to provide help against the clock, according to estimates by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Refugees (UNHCR).

The agency has focused its first efforts on providing the displaced with tents, plastic covers, thermal blankets, bags and winter clothing, among other equipment that is distributed “from day one,” explained one of its spokespersons, Sivanka Dhanapala.

For Syria, “this is a crisis within a crisis”, also exacerbated by the ravages of winter. In fact, UNHCR workers themselves are sleeping rough these days, worried that their homes may be damaged and collapse.

Syria already had 6.8 million internally displaced people before this tragedy and one of the UN’s objectives is to care for the most vulnerable, including children who have been separated from their families. A “preliminary” estimate already speaks of more than 5.3 million people now in need of shelter.

“It is a huge number and it reaches a population that has already suffered massive displacement,” warned Dhanapala, who has announced that next week he will visit some of the most affected areas, such as Aleppo, Hama and Latakia.