Syria, devastated in the north by the earthquake in Turkey, submitted, on Wednesday 8 February, a request for assistance to the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) and should be able to count on the provision of aid in kind in addition to the initial humanitarian aid released on the same day for both Turkey and Syria (see EUROPE 13116/1).
Announcing the news to the press late on Wednesday morning, 8 February, the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: “We received a request from the Syrian government this morning. I encourage Member States to respond to this request”.
The Commissioner denied that the sanctions imposed on Syria could have any effect on the rapid delivery of humanitarian aid. “The EU has been supporting humanitarian partners in Syria for years. The earthquake only aggravates a very serious situation. We are doing everything we can to increase our support for the humanitarian organisations we fund“, he said. He recalled that the sanctions, imposed since 2011, affect 291 individuals and 70 entities (asset freezes and travel bans) and also consist of sectoral economic restrictions - “nothing that prevents the provision of humanitarian aid and certainly not aid after this terrible earthquake”.
In fact, the Commission announced a few hours later that it was releasing an initial emergency aid package of €3.5 million to fund assistance to the most vulnerable people - shelter, access to water and sanitation, health items - and to support search and rescue operations.
In addition, the EU institution says it is reorienting its humanitarian aid projects to support NGO and UN agency partners in assisting earthquake-affected medical facilities with medical kits, food and shelter, and repairing damaged infrastructure.
The EU is also increasing its aid to Turkey, which the Commissioner will visit on Thursday 9 February.
Three million euros in initial emergency humanitarian aid was released on Wednesday to boost response efforts.
Furthermore, in response to a request for further assistance with shelter items submitted by Turkey to the UCPM on Wednesday, Germany, Lithuania and Slovenia have already offered blankets, tents and heaters.
This is in addition to the previous offers made by 20 EU Member States and three participating third countries (Albania, Montenegro and Serbia), which by midday Wednesday totalled 31 search and rescue teams and five medical teams. This includes more than 1,500 rescue workers and 100 search dogs to try to find survivors in the rubble.
A European civil protection team has also been deployed to help coordinate the aid. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)