Earthquake: EU mobilizes more emergency assistance for Syria and Türkiye

Following the devastating earthquake affecting both Syria and Türkiye last week, the EU continues to work on all fronts to channel emergency assistance to both countries.

For Syria: the European Humanitarian Response Capacity is providing rapid relief to people affected by the earthquake. EU stockpiles in Italy and Dubai have been mobilized to deliver emergency supplies. It includes items such as winterised tents, heaters, blankets, water, sanitation and hygiene kits and kitchen sets. The aid will be distributed both in government-controlled areas together with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and in non-government-controlled areas in Northwest Syria in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In addition, the Commission is looking at opportunities for a Team Europe approach, working with Member States to mobilise shelter items from their stocks.

Furthermore, via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), 10 European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, and Norway) have offered thousands of tents, blankets, sleeping bags, mattresses, beds, generators, heaters, medicines, food items, winter clothing, masks, and more, to the Syrian people. Two Liaison Officers of the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) will be deployed to Beirut today to support with the coordination of incoming EU assistance for Syria. This comes on top of an additional initial amount of €3.5 million of humanitarian assistance to cover the most urgent needs, such as cash for shelter and non-food items, water and sanitation, health, and search and rescue.

For Türkiye: as outlined by President von der Leyen in her phone call with President Erdogan yesterday, the Commission will mobilize additional support and respond to Türkiye’s request for assistance. Already 21 EU Member States and three UCPM Participating States have offered a total of 38 teams – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain, together with Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. In total, 1,652 rescuers and 105 search dogs have been offered by European countries. The Commission is also channelling assistance from 12 EU Member States for emergency shelter items and is providing Relief Housing Units from the rescEU reserve hosted by Sweden, as well as thousands of tents beds hosted by Romania to be deployed to Türkiye.

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