The Argentine Agency for International Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance-White Helmets (Aciah) ordered the offer of humanitarian assistance from Argentina for the population affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Turkey and Syria.
This was stated by Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero following knowing the consequences caused by the earthquake, which caused more than five thousand deaths and thousands of injuries in both countries.
The Argentine offer includes socio-sanitary care, post-traumatic psychosocial support and logistics personnel “with experience both in managing warehouses for donations and for the assembly of Acnur (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) houses and management of camps for affected people and shelters. ”, they detailed in a statement.
In addition, the provision of water purification tablets and disinfectants is foreseen, as well as management and training in their use for those affected.
The Argentine agency, led by Sabina Frederic, will coordinate in parallel with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) the offer of Argentine members to intervening teams, which would be deployed “promptly in the epicenter of the disaster to function in support” to the work of the national and international search and rescue teams.
The aid offered responds to the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey for international assistance in the field of urban search and rescue, following the collapse of thousands of buildings.
Help for Turkey
International aid to Turkey is expected to begin arriving on Tuesday with the first rescue teams from places like France or Qatar, while 45 countries have agreed in the same way, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Instead, the call from the Syrian government received for now a response from Moscow, its ally, which promised relief teams “in the next few hours”, in addition to 300 Russian soldiers who are already in place to help with the rescue, according to reported the AFP news agency.
In this regard, the UN insisted that the aid must reach the entire Syrian population, including the part that is not under the control of Damascus.