Aftershocks, freezing cold and rescue attempts: Charities deliver vital aid as Disasters Emergency Committee launches Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal

The DEC, made up of 15 leading UK aid charities, is launching the appeal with the support of the UK's national broadcasters with TV appeals presented by Daniel Craig and Tamsin Greig airing tonight after the evening news on BBC One, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. BBC and commercial radio appeals will air throughout the day, voiced by Sir Michael Palin, the Reverend Richard Coles and others. 

Every pound donated by the British public will be matched by the UK Government through its UK Aid Match scheme up to the value of £5 million. 

At a press conference to launch the appeal, Saleh Saeed Chief Executive of the DEC said: “The scale of the damage is hard to imagine, with thousands of buildings reduced to rubble. And this is happening in a region where millions of people had already been forced to flee the war in Syria. 

“Donations from the British public will make a huge difference in enabling DEC charities to reach more people. We of course, appreciate that this is a difficult time for all of us, but we're urging everyone to give whatever they can.” 

19,000 people are now confirmed to have died after the first earthquake struck in the early hours of Monday morning, collapsing thousands of buildings as people slept. Many more are injured and hundreds of thousands have been made homeless in freezing conditions. 

While search and rescue operations continue, millions of people are now in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. DEC charities and their local partners have been responding since the disaster struck, and funds raised by the appeal will help them scale up their work to meet the immense needs. 

At the press conference aid workers detailed how the disaster was causing growing humanitarian needs and how they are responding - from providing search and rescue support and medical care to shelter, warm clothing and food. 

Salah Aboulgasem,  Deputy Director of Partner Development from Islamic Relief, spoke by live link from Kahramanmaras in Turkey, close to the epicentre of the first earthquake. He said he had visited one town in the Gaziantep region where 70% of buildings had been destroyed. He said: “Everywhere you look, there was search and rescue going on. 

“We still have hope. Still people were being recovered this morning. But when that's happening now people are starting to accept the loss of family members that may still be buried which is which is really sad.” 

He told the press conference that tremors are still occurring, causing ripples of fear amongst people, who are out in the cold in temperatures as low as minus six degrees centigrade. Despite the freezing conditions, many buildings still standing are not safe to return to. 

“People are cold, very, very cold... It's a real challenge, shelter, food, materials to help people with the warmth.” 

He said infected injuries were a growing problem. “We're now looking at some of the sorts of medical challenges and the needs accordingly because of the fact that a lot of the hospital supplies need replenishing.”  

He added: “The size and the scale of this is unprecedented. The numbers are huge.” 

Dr Wassel Ajerk, general surgeon at Idlib City Hospital and project manager for Syrian Expatriate Medical Association (SEMA), a local partner of Age International, said the situation in north-west Syria was “miserable”. He said it faced the same situation as Turkey but without any government support. 

SEMA is operating three hospitals in north-west Syria and are responding by providing essential health services in 19 hospitals, which have fuel shortages and a lack of medicines and staff. 

One surgical assistant there lost his left arm and all of his family when his house collapsed in the earthquake, and he is now recovering in the ICU unit at the hospital where he works. 

He added: “SEMA is now preparing a small centre for rescuing and receiving [displaced people] from the near and surrounding areas, providing them with some drinking water, with bread with essential food baskets ready to eat.” 

DEC charities are already drawing down donations to the appeal to fund work on the ground, including by SEMA. 

Jeremy Smith, Country Cluster Manger for the Middle East and North Africa Region, British Red Cross, based in Beirut, Lebanon, said within 10 minutes of the earthquake, Syrian Red Crescent ambulances were responding in Aleppo, Syria. The Lebanese Red Cross have sent search and rescue teams to aid the response. They have also provided 500,000 meals using 77 foods trucks, as well as tents and mattresses. 

The Red Cross has 10 teams in Turkey supporting people with psychological first aid and is carrying out assessments in Syria. 

He said: “We know from other disasters we've been responding to that this is not going to be a matter of weeks or months. This is going to be a multi-year long-term recovery. And this is why we need people to give generously, because people are going to have lifelong injuries, and psychological issues, losing their livelihoods and so we need to make sure that we're set up to support people in the long term.” 

Racha Nasreddine, Director for the Arab Region, ActionAid, talking from Amman, Jordan, agreed that psychosocial support was needed very much needed. 

She said: “Women and girls in that area were already living in a very, very vulnerable conditions. Just before the earthquake hit, there was a cholera outbreak in the area and there are already harsher weather conditions... Support needs to be redoubled for these communities. 

“Our partners have been trying to set up temporary shelters and we’re trying to equip these shelters with food, blankets, floor mats so it can provide especially women and girls with some sort of privacy. 

“We've just started yesterday mobile psychosocial support services for children, including young girls.”  

Now charities need more funds to help scale up their efforts, hoping to reach millions of the people affected by the disaster. 

Salah Aboulgasem from Islamic Relief said:  

“We already had existing supplies that were in place. So we've been able to upscale, we need to upscale all agencies - that would be the priority at such a stage and to continue the work that's going on.”  

Stay up to date with developments in Turkey and Syria, the emergency response and the fundraising efforts with the DEC on Twitter or on Facebook.  

For more information, visit the DEC website.

ENDS       

Notes to editors:   

Media enquiries please call 020 7387 0200 or 07734 653616 (out of hours).  

A recording of the press conference is available here. 

Interview requests: Panellists at the press conference are available for individual interviews. For more information or to request interviews in advance please contact: pressofficemanager@dec.org.uk  

 A collection of images and video footage of the aftermath of the earthquake and DEC charities responding is available here.  

 About the DEC: The DEC brings together 15 leading UK aid charities at times of crisis overseas to raise funds quickly and efficiently. In these times of crisis, people in life-and-death situations need our help and our mission is to save, protect and rebuild lives through effective humanitarian response. The DEC’s 15 member charities are: Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Plan International UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK.     

Fourteen of the DEC’s 15 members are either responding or planning to respond in Turkey and Syria and will receive funds from this appeal. Some may work through trusted local partners. They are Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK.    

Through UK Aid Match the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) gives the British public the opportunity to have a say in how the UK aid budget is spent whilst boosting the impact of the very best British charities to change and save the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.   

UK Aid Match has increased the impact of a number of DEC appeals to help those in need around the world, including most recently Pakistan Floods Appeal and Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, both in 2022.   The UK matched up to £25 million of public donations to DEC’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal - the largest commitment ever made to a DEC appeal through UK Aid Match.  

 Enquiries about UK Aid Match and UK Government support for Turkey/Syria should be directed to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Newsdesk. Please email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk.    

How to donate:      

Online: dec.org.uk 

Phone: 0370 60 60 610   

Text to give/SMS: for press releases: text SUPPORT to 70787 to donate £10. Other partners should use the specific text codes they have been provided with by the DEC.   

Donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office, or send a cheque by post to: DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal, PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA.