The rescue teams have already withdrawn to make way for the bulldozers.
The humanitarian crisis in Turkey and Syria has only just begun.
According to experts, it could last for months and even years.
The representative of the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Martin Griffiths, who has traveled to the affected areas in both countries, puts it this way: "The next phase of this tragedy is to take care of the people."
The latest balance of fatalities amounts to almost 44,000, although the figure could increase as the work of clearing the collapsed structures progresses, under which there is almost no hope of finding survivors.
The tremor directly impacted some 13 million people, of whom, in Turkey alone, 1.2 million are now displaced in shelters and 400,000 have been relocated to other provinces.
"Now the Turkish and Syrian governments have to carry out a census of those affected to find out who has lost what, and what help they will need and for how long," explains Francisco Rey, co-director of the Institute for Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH). ).
The organizations of the United Nations and NGOs also carry out their work in coordination to analyze the situation,
These programs take time.
You can't put a psychologist in a store and that's it
Juanjo Tarrés, Oxfam Intermón logistician in Turkey
Juanjo Tarrés, an Oxfam Intermón logistician in Turkey, is involved in this task.
“There are many who are not able to express what their specific needs are, they tell us that they only want to recover their deceased relatives still under the rubble.
There is a great collective trauma due to the magnitude of the loss of loved ones and home, ”he details in a phone call.
The most immediate thing most need is shelter and food, he says.
For this reason, while the NGO team does its analysis work and coordinates with the authorities, the UN and other organizations, they distribute hot meals and blankets.
In the meantime, they have already identified that other interventions will be needed, such as widespread psychosocial support and cash transfers for those left without a livelihood.
“These programs take time.
You cannot put a psychologist in a store and that's it”, he comments.
Nor can they decide to give money without first knowing if there is a viable local market that can supply the demand.
The "obsession" now of the logistician is to find where to store food and other materials if they make massive purchases.
"Now we distribute practically everything during the day, and we have a store where we keep the supplies, although it is not very safe, we are exposed to theft," he says.
“But there will come a time when we need more space.”
As described by humanitarians on the ground, many affected are sleeping in small groups of tents, in their cars, greenhouses or in public structures still standing, such as exhibition facilities, sports centers or shopping centers.
"Sometimes the displacement camps are not recommended because there is a risk that they will be perpetuated over time," Rey explains.
“We saw it after Hurricane Mitch in Guatemala [1998], the fields lasted for years.”
But the fact that the survivors remain in the homes of relatives does not mean that they do not need help, so they must also be taken into account in the assistance work even if they have a housing solution, adds the expert.
Children, the most vulnerable
In a catastrophe like this, there are no easy solutions;
experience from past emergencies is also crucial in adapting the response to the context.
Thus, it is known that it is better to avoid the occupation of spaces such as schools to shelter the victims.
"The right to education is the first to be lost and the most difficult to recover," says the IECAH specialist.
For this reason, Unicef is already working on the evaluation of the damage in schools.
The plan is, as they say, "to make immediate repairs and establish temporary schools."
For now, classes have been suspended until at least this Saturday, February 18 in Syria, while Turkey has postponed the return to school until March 1 in the ten affected provinces.
A woman paints the face of a child as part of entertainment for children affected by the earthquake in Osmaniye, Turkey, on February 16, 2023. SUHAIB SALEM (REUTERS)
"Although the total number of children affected is not yet clear, 4.6 million live in the ten provinces of Turkey affected by the earthquakes, and there are more than 2.5 million children affected in Syria," UNICEF notes.
"Children and their families in Turkey and Syria are facing unimaginable hardships in the wake of these devastating earthquakes," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warned in a statement.
“We must do everything in our power to ensure that all who survived this catastrophe receive vital support, including clean water, sanitation, nutrition and health supplies, as well as mental health support for children.
Not just now, but in the long term, ”she specified.
In addition to this basic assistance,
Syria's double catastrophe
In the northeast of Syria the situation is even worse than in Turkey, for children and the population in general, underlines Carmen Monclús, head of protection of the UNICEF cross-border operation between Syria and Turkey.
Here, the devastating effects of the earthquake are added to those caused by 12 years of war —four million people already depended completely on humanitarian aid in that area before the disaster— and the added difficulties —since it is a context of conflict— for get more assistance to them immediately.
"We have an arduous task," says Monclús by phone.
According to her estimates, more than 370 million euros will be needed to fulfill her mandate in this area.
“Here the services were already implemented by NGOs and the communities themselves.
Humanitarian aid entered through a single point from Turkey, always under the authorization of the Security Council for limited periods of time”, details Monclús.
The last renewal of the permit was in January and enabled them to operate in the area until June.
"Now the needs have increased, but there are logistical and geopolitical problems."
Pressure to open more land ports for the materials to arrive has paid off, with two more due over the next three months.
But the Unicef specialist affirms that it is "an inappropriate term."
“We are going to need more than a quarter.”
In this aerial view, people living in tents after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6 receive mattresses and other humanitarian aid distributed by an NGO, in the northern city of Afrin. from the rebel-held Aleppo province, on February 16, 2023. OMAR HAJ KADOUR (AFP)
Even before the earthquake, in this strip outside the control of the Syrian government, UNICEF cared for a large number of unaccompanied children, separated from their parents, recruited by armed groups, girls married at an early age... "The majority are internally displaced , more than 44% did not go to school, now a situation that was previously very precarious has been magnified.
It is a very punished society.
The little ones have experienced a suffering that no child in the world should experience for a single minute.
And the earthquake has exposed a pre-existing reality”, Monclús insists.
“All these cases require child protection specialists to evaluate them one by one to propose an appropriate response to their situation.
Sometimes this process can take up to six months.
If we lose authorization to work in Syria,
Their concern is that the work of the "few" international agencies and NGOs that were being carried out in northwestern Syria was implemented with local organizations, which have suffered the impact of the earthquake.
"They have been damaged, they have lost relatives, their vehicles...", comments Monclús.
"Now is when we need them the most and they cannot be at 100%, they are not at their best moment and we hope that, little by little, they will recover."
Unicef estimates that 1.8 million minors here will require immediate support due to this multiple catastrophe.
"We have already sent 58 trucks with basic necessities: water purification tablets, emergency health kits, and children's recreation kits," he lists.
“Here we were already dealing with a cholera outbreak,” he recalls,
85,000 injured and the number continues to rise
The earthquake has left, in addition to thousands of deaths, more than 85,000 injured who will require urgent medical attention, but the health facilities have also been affected, as well as the health professionals themselves.
In Iskenderun, the two hospitals have been totally and partially destroyed, which has left the population without access to regular health services such as prenatal care, in addition to the injuries left by the earthquake.
The Spanish START field hospital, with surgical capacity, is already deployed in this city.
Since last Monday the 13th, a human team of 82 people including professionals from the National Health System (56), logisticians, staff from development NGOs and the Humanitarian Action Office of the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID), which leads and coordinates the mission, provides assistance.
“Our first patient, Berivan Kuyabas, was a school principal in Iskenderun.
Her house collapsed in the earthquake and she ended up with an injured foot.
She now lives with her husband in a car with broken windows ”, details the AECID on her Twitter account.
Funds for relief and reconstruction
Appeals for emergency aid funds have not been long in coming.
The UN carried out his last Friday, in which he requested 1,000 million dollars (940 million euros) for the agencies to provide assistance to five million people in the next three months in Turkey.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies requested 200 million Swiss francs (almost 203 million euros) to be able to respond adequately.
A claim to which Spain responded with 1.5 million euros, in addition to the additional emergency funds claimed by the Spanish NGOs present in Syria, which will be transferred upon request once the needs have been assessed.
For its part, the European Commission has convened a donor conference to mobilize resources from the international community.
the reconstruction
“It is a risk to start reconstruction too soon, even though it is what donors like the most, when humanitarian needs still continue,” warns Rey, from IECAH.
From experience in these types of emergencies, he says, reconstruction is a critical process that increases corruption by making large amounts of money available to governments for it.
“It happens in both developed and non-developed countries,” he points out.
"You have to map well and do an analysis of what can be recovered and what has to be built from scratch," he notes.
“And that takes time.
Hasty decisions often lead to doing it wrong.
Turkey is a donor country and can carry out the reconstruction tasks, "but the international community should pressure to execute the funds directly or, at least, audit those executed by the Turkish government," he believes.
In Syria, the danger is that biases occur in this process.
That is to say, that the areas related to Bashar el Asad's regime recover sooner and better, leaving those that are not under his control unassisted, adds the expert.
The first thing that would have to be rebuilt, he indicates, are the hospitals, the water supply networks and other basic structures.
Recommendations for solidarity citizens
The Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation has published a guide to guide Spanish citizens who want to support those affected by the disaster "in the face of the numerous offers of help" and so that "the help is as effective as possible."
Among other recommendations, it "advises against" donations in kind "as it could saturate the logistical capacities of humanitarian actors."
He suggests "channeling aid through the different humanitarian NGOs that work in the area."
The Development NGO Coordinator recalls that traveling to the field as volunteers is a bad idea.
“Our organizations send experienced personnel with specific training in emergencies in these cases,” she recalls.
And she agrees in indicating that financial support through specialist entities allows them to buy standardized kits on their own land or in neighboring countries to guarantee their suitability, "while promoting the activation of local economies."
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