Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 26th Feb. World Food Programme head David Beasley on Saturday concluded a visit to devastated Syrian and Turkish communities and aid supply routes, called on authorities to open more border crossings to help survivors of the earthquakes that hit both countries in early February.
WFP Executive Director David Beasley said “While the world has quickly mobilized in support of people here, the impact of this quake will be felt for months and years to come,”.
He described “incomprehensible” devastation and an “apocalyptic” landscape during a visit to the Hatay region in southern Türkiye.
He noted over 18 million people affected across southern Türkiye and northwest Syria, tens of thousands of lives have been lost, and millions upon millions of people have lost their homes, livelihoods, and assets.
Beasley visited several affected communities said that Antakya suffered significant deaths and massive destruction, is now “almost a ghost town”, with homes, schools, shops and critical infrastructure damaged and destroyed.
“There is only one way to describe what I saw today: apocalyptic,” he said.
“Entire neighborhoods have been flattened, homes destroyed, schools and shops closed, lives torn apart. The scale of devastation here is truly incomprehensible.”
Mr. Beasley met with families whose homes were reduced to rubble. The camp is one of seven where WFP has been supporting Syrian refugees for years.
WFP said that assistance is being scaled up to include Turkish families displaced by the earthquake.
On the Syrian side, Mr. Beasley described the situation as a “catastrophe on top of a catastrophe”.
UN transport hub, Mr. Beasley saw trucks being loaded with food and other emergency items. Drivers will bring the life-saving supplies to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing en route to non-government-controlled areas of northwest Syria.
“Our trucks are rolling, and this food and other supplies will literally save thousands and thousands of lives,” said Mr. Beasley, as he watched a 21-truck convoy carrying 380 tonnes of food into Syria.
WFP said since the border crossing re-opened on 13 February, the agency has supported the crossing of 180 trucks into northwest Syria.
He praised the re-opening of vital supply routes, he underlined the need to resume and scale up cross line deliveries. In this regard, he called on all parties to further facilitate access.
“Food assistance must get to the people of northwest Syria from all sides, through all routes, without any restrictions,” he said.
WFP has rapidly mobilized, reaching more than 2.3 million affected people across both countries.
WFP funding requirements for the emergency response in Türkiye stands at $80 million to ramp up assistance through food and cash and $150 million is needed to support for six months 800,000 people affected in Syria.
The agency said that $300 million is required to maintain WFP’s food assistance programme across all of Syria for 5.5 million people every month. If this is not received, the UN food programme will be forced to suspend its assistance to 3.8 million Syrians within months.
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