The United Nations on Saturday called on the international community to speed up taking Syrian refugees from Türkiye following a deadly earthquake that impacted the country’s south, where a large part of the refugee population had been residing.
The U.N. welcomed the news of 89 Syrian refugees recently arriving in Madrid from Türkiye.
The two massive earthquakes on Feb. 6 killed over 45,000 people in Türkiye and thousands more in neighboring Syria, devastating hundreds of thousands of buildings.
For almost 12 years, Türkiye has hosted around 4 million Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war. Last month’s earthquake affected an estimated 9 million people, more than 1.7 million refugees.
“Many refugees who fled to Türkiye in search of safety and protection have now faced the trauma of loss and displacement once again – losing their homes and livelihoods,” the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a joint statement.
“To help protect those refugees most at risk and to help alleviate pressures on local communities who themselves are also impacted by this humanitarian disaster, UNHCR is appealing for states to expedite resettlement processes and departures,” said UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi.
With many refugees affected by the disaster in “dire need of assistance, we urge more states to step up and speed up processes, enabling quick departures from Türkiye, “he said.
“This is a tangible expression of solidarity and responsibility sharing and ultimately will ensure immediate, life-changing solutions for refugees who have been made even more vulnerable as a result of the earthquakes.”
Thanking Spain, International OIM chief Antonio Vitorino added: “We hope to see these efforts replicated swiftly.”
Meanwhile, around 40,000 Syrians who had fled areas affected by the deadly earthquake have returned from Türkiye to opposition-held northwestern Syria in the two weeks since Türkiye eased restrictions on their movements, a Turkish official and a Syrian opposition official told Reuters.
The immigration was recorded at four border crossings held by the Syrian opposition forces, Mazen Alloush, a media officer at the opposition-held Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Türkiye, said.
In the aftermath of the quake, Syrians have taken advantage of an offer from Turkish authorities to spend up to six months in the northwest without losing the chance to return.
Many have gone back to check on relatives following the earthquake, and others have temporarily moved in with relatives after their homes and businesses in Türkiye were destroyed in the quake.
Around 4 million people live in northwest Syria, most dependent on aid even before the latest disaster, according to the U.N.
