UNICEF warns that the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey affect children "disproportionately"

Monclus denounces that the situation is especially difficult on the Syrian side due to the armed conflict that has prevailed for more than a decade

MADRID, 16 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stressed this Wednesday that the latest earthquakes that have shaken southern Turkey and northwestern Syria have highlighted the already "precarious" situation in that area, at the same time that have "disproportionately" affected minors.

"Children have been disproportionately affected by the armed conflict and now by the earthquake," lamented Carmen Monclus, UNICEF spokesperson from the Turkish city of Gaziantep, one of the areas shaken by earthquakes that have so far left more than 38,700 dead between Turkey and Syria.

Monclus explained in a conversation with Europa Press that the situation is especially difficult on the Syrian side, since these are areas without a government presence and controlled by armed groups, some of them considered terrorist by the United Nations.

"Since a few years ago and due to the absence of the Government, in the northwest of Syria the services have been implemented by the NGOs supported by the UN (...) The recovery in this part will be much later based on a precarious situation that affects 4.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million are children," he said.

Therefore, the management of this humanitarian crisis is being very uneven depending on the two affected areas. Although Turkey has extensive international networks and alliances, in the case of Syria it is the opposite, with an unrecognized government on one side and illegal armed groups on the other.

"It is very complex to set up a bilateral relationship like this. You cannot even guarantee the safety of humanitarian workers," laments Monclus, who estimates that 25 percent of the children in all of Syria live in areas controlled by these armed groups.

Faced with this situation, Monclus has emphasized that it is "imperative" more than ever that humanitarian access be allowed to areas that before the earthquake were already suffering from a crisis at all levels and has welcomed the opening of two other access routes, the from Bab al Salamé and Al Rai, to the existing Bab al Hawa.

"It is important that aid continues to flow and that supplies continue to enter. Keeping these access routes alive is vital," stressed Monclus, who shared the figure of 397 million dollars needed to provide a rapid response to the most acute needs. for the next three months, only in northwestern Syria, according to the latest flash appeal from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Although the problem of unaccompanied minors in this part of Syria is a problem that goes back to the beginning of the armed conflict, Monclus has indicated that the new humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquakes has made it even worse.

"It is urgent to solve the issue of minors without parents," said the spokesperson for UNICEF, an organization that has launched a program to track the relatives of these little ones that is not limited only to the parents, because in Syria "the family does not end with parents.

However, he has recognized that in the midst of the current situation "it is very complicated", since it is also a mechanism in which each case is analyzed in detail and individually. "You have to make evaluations, look at the environment, the needs and find a solution for many of these children who seem to be separated and then they are not," she said.

In this sense, he stressed that despite the increase in adoption proposals --clearly "well-intentioned"-- that have been coming from other countries, it is a "priority" to exhaust all solutions at the local level, since they are sure at UNICEF, which is the environment where these boys and girls can best develop.

Meanwhile, it is necessary to "restore normality" and impose a kind of routine that helps mitigate the psychological impact that a crisis like this has on the little ones, especially among the many with mental or physical health problems. For this, "temporary shelters" have been set up, since "orphanages or institutionalizing these children is the last resort."

UNICEF has already detailed that more than seven million children have been affected by the earthquakes a few days ago in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria. As time passes, the priority shifts from rescue to recovery of the bodies, so the number of deaths is expected to increase.

The Turkish authorities have raised the death toll from the earthquakes to more than 35,000 this week, a balance to which must be added the 3,700 deaths reported by the health authorities of the Government of Bashar al Assad and the rebels in the provinces of Idlib. and Aleppo.