News item | 08-02-2023 | 11:48
Minister Liesje Schreinemacher for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (BHOS) has made 10 million euros available for emergency aid to the victims of the earthquakes in northwestern Syria. Of this, 7 million euros will be used through United Nations funds to provide them with tents, blankets, food and water. The remaining 3 million euros will be spent through Dutch aid organizations.
The minister announced this on Wednesday. The contribution comes on top of the efforts of the Dutch search and rescue team USAR, which is working in southeastern Turkey. The costs for this are largely paid from the BHOS emergency aid budget.
The war in Syria has complicated aid to the population. Employees of aid organizations and warehouses of relief goods have also been severely affected by the earthquakes. In addition, the Netherlands and the EU do not maintain diplomatic relations with the Syrian regime.
Schreinemacher: ‘But that should not prevent us from helping Syrians in need. The civil war has been going on for 12 years and has destroyed a lot and killed hundreds of thousands of people. In the affected area are many displaced Syrians who previously fled the violence. It is terrible that they have now been hit hard again by the devastating earthquakes. For them, this is disaster upon disaster.’
In order to provide humanitarian aid to the victims quickly, the Dutch contribution will go to the Syria Humanitarian Fund and the Syria Cross Border Humanitarian Fund of the UN. They support local organizations that are active in the affected areas. The Netherlands has been providing humanitarian aid to the Syrian population since the start of the conflict. This aid is channeled through UN organisations, the International Red Cross and Dutch aid organizations united in the Dutch Relief Alliance.
The Netherlands also contributes to the relief after the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria through other channels. For example, the UN Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) released USD 25 million this week for aid to the region. The Netherlands contributes 55 million euros to this fund each year. UN organizations and the Red Cross that currently provide aid in Turkey and Syria can do so in part thanks to long-term and so-called ‘unearmarked’ support from the Netherlands. This allows them to operate quickly and flexibly where the need is greatest.