Madrid, April 5
Faced with the emergency situation, the Spanish NGO works in the Hatay region, the region hardest hit by the earthquakes
The Spanish NGO Global Humanitaria continues to provide emergency aid in the Hatay region two months after the earthquakes that caused more than 50,000 deaths in Turkey and almost 6,000 in Syria. In addition, about 24 million people were affected and 2.2 million have been left homeless. In Hatay alone, the region hardest hit by the quakes, more than 21,000 people have lost their lives and more than 24,000 were injured. In this area of southern Turkey, one of the cultural and tourist centers of the country, the landscape is apocalyptic. In the historic city of Antioquia (360,652 inhabitants) or the coastal Samandag (121,109 inhabitants) practically 100% of the buildings collapsed or cannot be inhabited again. All of this has forced its population into a mode of survival that forces them to crowd into makeshift camps. The rains, the lack of hygiene products, toilets, showers or clean clothes have caused, after more than 50 days, epidemiological diseases and infections to begin to spread. Samandag has become the paradigm of the most extreme emergency. There are no official settlements and families crowd into rivers of tents on either side of the road leading into the city. Thousands of people with no other escape than to get closer to the main road to have more options to receive the help that arrives in trucks or vans. In this sense, Global Humanitaria identifies the needs of each family and transfers hygiene products or food directly to their shelters. Here each family keeps stories like that of Damla, 22, and her three children, who continue to share a small tent plastic with nine other people. Among them, a cancer patient and two people with heart problems who cannot access their treatment. “We have been wearing the same clothes since the day of the earthquake and we still cannot shower or go to the bathroom,” says Damla. In addition, in Samandag, hundreds of the victims of this crisis have chosen to occupy greenhouses due to the impossibility of finding a tent. Dr. Emin, a volunteer in the area, warned of the great risks of protecting oneself in this type of construction. “The temperature in the greenhouses grows exponentially and there are no air inlets. Desperation has led people to crowd into these spaces that endanger their lives.” Dr. Emin himself pointed out that “the lack of clean underwear is causing many cases of infections and the population is also suffering from plagues of lice and fleas. We need medical attention to reach everyone. Most of them do not have the necessary means to travel to the hospitals that are operational. The situation, two months later, it is an extreme emergency.” If the rains have compromised survival in the tents up to now, the heat that is to come may be a factor that will further aggravate their situation.
ContactContact name: Juanjo LecumberriContact telephone: 625426733
