image source,chiu chen yu
The Leihanle World Citizen Center in Taiwan, which was originally used to rescue refugees from the Syrian war, has suddenly become an important facility for the local earthquake victims. This image was taken in the summer of 2022.
“What I am most afraid of is that with almost no rescue, the victims are now hungry and cold, and their anger will be out of control… Social order will collapse… Riots will happen sooner or later. Syrian refugees who were already excluded in the city may be attacked.”
After the earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area, Qiu Zhenyu, CEO of the “Taiwan Reyhanle World Citizen Center” who had lived and worked in Turkey for a long time, told the BBC Chinese reporter that this small border town is close to the war-torn Syrian war zone, and the city is located in Turkey. Contradictions between the people and refugees from Syria have always existed. We hope that following the earthquake, there will be no crowding out or even looting of materials and property.
The center was built in Reyhanlı, a small town on the Turkish border. Before the earthquake, its main mission was to serve Syrian refugees. It was established in 2016 with donations from Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was originally planned to build a school for refugees. Afterwards, the center became a non-profit organization and independently raised funds. It raised 1 million US dollars in Taiwan. In 2020, a 7,000-square-meter refugee asylum center will be built to serve refugees and local Turkish citizens. The services include education, women’s entrepreneurship and other social benefits.
After the strong earthquake hit Turkey and Syria this time, Reyhanli was hit hard and suffered heavy casualties. Survivors flocked to the center to seek asylum. More than 200 people have been resettled here so far.
Earthquake in Syria, Turkey: Victims desperately looking for family amid rubble
Qiu Zhenyu told the BBC that the Taiwan Center is currently the only rescue center in Reyhanle. The local Turkish and United Nations rescue organizations were severely damaged by the earthquake, and the police and firefighting units were almost paralyzed: “We barely have generators, and through the center park The 100-meter-deep well in the center provides basic water needs… But Hatay Province, where the center is located, is a military-controlled area, and important roads to the outside are also broken, and ordinary people and vehicles are not allowed to enter at will. It has caused great obstacles to rescue, and it is impossible to get in.”
Mr. Qiu flew to the Czech Republic to attend the meeting last week. The earthquake made him stranded in Europe. He was very worried regarding the situation of the volunteers in the center and the local people. He observed that because there is no basic support, the public is also very dissatisfied. “If the supplies don’t come in, we can last up to two weeks.”
image source,Chiu Chen-yu
About 1,300 houses collapsed in Reyhanli.
The center has turned to Taiwanese businessmen in Turks for help, actively raising supplies to purchase, and the supplies will be shipped in following the road is opened.
Border town hit hard
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria in the early hours of Monday (February 7) local time was the strongest earthquake in the region in a century, causing heavy casualties in Turkey and neighboring Syria. people die. Rescue teams and supplies from all over the world are pouring in.
However, many people in the disaster-stricken areas in Turkey are still waiting for rescue in the cold winter, and more people are still buried in the rubble. Qiu Zhenyu said that as far as he knows, as reported by most media, the public’s anger has almost reached a critical point, and they are very dissatisfied with the slow rescue.
image source,Chiu Chen-yu
Reyhanli’s Turkish and United Nations relief organizations were badly hit by the quake, with police and fire services nearly paralyzed.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally admitted on Wednesday (8th) that his government’s response to the earthquake was inappropriate, leading to national frustration and anger. Archyde.com reported that it was snowing in the disaster area, and many people were sleeping on the street or in their cars, afraid to return to their homes for fear of followingshocks.
Taking Lei Hanle as an example, Qiu Zhenyu told the BBC that according to reports from volunteers at the center, some food might still be bought in the store on the first day of the earthquake, so the center urgently prepared hot food for the hungry people , but the shops were closed the next followingnoon, and everyone might only rely on stored food for food. External contact means that everyone has to find a communication hotspot in the city, and barely send a few photos or make a phone call a day.
In addition, due to the strict precepts on the distinction between men and women in Muslims, the mixing of unmarried adult men and women is not allowed. Therefore, in the cold winter, adult men spend the night under the corridor outside the center, while women and children stay indoors. The situation is difficult for the victims who spend the night in the cold winter.
image source,Chiu Chen-yu
About 200 disaster victims took refuge in the center.
image source,Chiu Chen-yu
Mother and child who came to the center to evacuate
On Wednesday night (February 9), the local government finally delivered 100 blankets to the refugees in the center.
In addition, Qiu Zhenyu observed that because of poverty, many buildings in the area did not have good foundations, and the quality of construction was also poor, causing thousands of houses in the city to collapse in strong earthquakes. “The city is on an earthquake fault zone. When we built the house (in the center), we considered the risk of earthquakes.”
image source,Chiu Chen-yu
Reyhanle is currently short of water and electricity throughout the city.
Reconstruction following the earthquake is even more worrying, he said. There are many poor people in this city, and everyone is working part-time jobs. The current economic situation in Turkey is also very bad. How the victims who lost their jobs can stand up once more under the blow is as heavy as the current rescue operation.
I hope that the disaster relief process will not crowd out each other
Taiwan is centered in Reyhanli, southeastern Turkey, just a few kilometers from the Syrian border. This small city has long been a mixed population of Syrians and Turks. Among the 350,000 residents, there are 100,000 Turks. The rest are immigrants or refugees. The main language of the city is Arabic.
Years of Syrian civil war has displaced millions and the city has seen an influx of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.
Qiu Zhenyu told the BBC that the center mainly serves refugee children and women, hoping to support their education and employment. But the city, on the Turkish-Syrian border, has been plagued by war, in addition to poverty. In 2019, suicide bombers carried out attacks in the city, causing serious casualties. Contradictions between Turkish and Syrian refugees in the city have always existed. Qiu Zhenyu hoped that relief supplies might arrive as soon as possible following the earthquake, and that there would be no crowding or even looting of materials and property.
image source,Chiu Chen-yu
Children who took refuge in Taiwan centers
