Turkey (Türkiye)

On 14 March 2023, only five weeks after two earthquakes struck southeastern Türkiye, severe flooding hit the southern provinces of the country. As at 23 March, there were at least 19 reported deaths, and several people were still missing. The most affected areas were Adiyaman and Sanlıurfa, which also suffered from the earthquakes on 6 February. The number of people in need remains uncertain, but the flooding has likely affected all the residents of Adiyaman (over 200,000) and at least 1,251 households in Sanliurfa. Heavy rainfall caused a river to overflow, leading to flooding in Adiyaman’s Tut district and Malatya’s Dogansehir district. The floods have further increased the contamination of water already poor in quality as a result of infrastructure damage during the earthquake. The overlapping events have increased food, shelter, and WASH needs.

As at 16 February 2023, Türkiye had reported over 36,400 earthquake-related deaths. Between 15–16 February, the death toll increased by roughly 1,000. The numbers of both dead and injured people are rising as rescuers continue to find people under the rubble. As at 16 February, at least 9.1 million people were known to be directly affected across the 11 hardest-hit provinces in Türkiye. 

This report is an extension of the profiles of earthquake-affected areas in Türkiye and Syria published on 13 February 2023.

On 6 February 2023 at 4:17h (GMT+03:00), a 7.8 earthquake hit the region of Kahramanmaras in southeastern Türkiye, affecting areas of southern Türkiye and northwestern Syria. Less than 12 hours later, at 13:45h (GMT+03:00), a 7.6 earthquake hit the same region. While the figures of people in need are still to be determined, 12 million people reside in the affected areas of southeastern Türkiye, including two million Syrian refugees. In Syria, more than six million have been affected. As at 12 February, the death toll in Türkiye and Syria was more than 29,600. This number is expected to continue to rise with current search-and-rescue efforts. 

This report gives an overview of the expected impact of the winter season in Syria, neighbouring countries hosting Syrian refugees, and Iraq.

While the physical and humanitarian impacts of explosive weapons, such as mortars, missiles, barrel bombs and IEDs, have been highly visible and documented throughout the conflict in Syria, the unex-ploded remnants of these weapons and landmines have received limited attention but will have long-term implications. In the immediate term, people are killed and maimed, with children making up nearly half of the victims globally. Furthermore, survivors require specialised services that are not available or accessible within Syrian’s public health system, which has been brought to near collapse. Even decades after a conflict has ended, the presence of ERW will negatively affect people’s ability to move freely, return and rebuild their homes, resume their livelihoods and begin to recover. The intensive use of explosive munitions on high-density urban areas and information limi-tations throughout the conflict means that it will take decades of rigor-ous clearance efforts, as ERW are buried among rubble and debris. Beirut and Sarajevo experienced similar ERW contamination in urban areas; the latter city required 8-9 years of clearance efforts, although explosive weapons were used at relatively lower levels compared to Syrian cities. Over time, ERW and landmines will also migrate due to flooding or erosion, particularly in soft, sandy soil, thereby further spreading the contamination risk.

This thematic report outlines the situation of the Palestinian Refugees within official and unofficial camps and settlements in Syria and other countries.

The border policies of Syria’s neighbouring countries have fluctuated regularly due to the security situation, political developments and the increasing number of refugees. This has caused uncertainty among those try-ing to flee and international responders. Some people try-ing to leave have been trapped inside Syria due to border restrictions, and at the border with Turkey this has led to the establishment of several IDP camps.

Given the various restrictions imposed by the governments of neighbouring countries, irregular and unregulated move-ment of refugees across borders is reported to be wide-spread. The legal status and rights of individuals exiting Syria may be compromised when they enter a country via an unofficial crossing.

Movements across borders also involve the smuggling of goods (food, fuel, medicines etc.), weapons and the move-ment of armed personnel.

Widespread information gaps persist in relation to border areas. The limited access of humanitarian organisations to border areas and scarcity of information hampers under-standing of the situation on the ground and the scale of population movements. The proliferation of armed groups in Syria and the fluid nature of territorial control lead to fur-ther ambiguity of the situation and challenges for move-ment of population into safer areas.

Some border crossing points are in remote, hard to reach and insecure areas making it more difficult for those forced to flee by foot to reach a host country.