Syrian Arab Republic: Cross-Border Humanitarian Reach and Activities from Türkiye (February 2023)

On 6 February, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Türkiye and Syria in the midst of rain and freezing temperature, followed by another earthquake and thousands of aftershocks. North-west Syria was gravely affected given its proximity to the quake’s epicenter in southern Türkiye, near the Turkish-Syrian borders. More than 4,500 deaths and 8,000 injuries were recorded in the area as of the end of February. At least 70 aid workers have passed away. The majority of deaths were recorded in Jandairis in the Afrin district in northern Aleppo.

The earthquakes have deepened humanitarian needs in north-west Syria – a region where 4.1 million people rely on humanitarian assistance to meet their most basic needs. 1.9 million live in camps or informal settlements.

In the aftermath of the earthquakes, more than 10,000 buildings have been damaged rendering tens of thousands of people homeless and displaced. The high number of casualties and injuries has overwhelmed hospitals and health facilities since the first day of the disaster. At least 55 health facilities were damaged to varying degrees while hundreds operated with limited resources including electricity or fuel.

Shelter, multi-purpose cash and winter aid were quickly identified as priority needs of earthquake survivors by rapid needs assessments. Given the immense scale of humanitarian needs, the UN and its partners have mobilized resources and capacity to scale up the cross-border response. On 14 February, two additional border crossings were authorized for UN aid delivery in addition to Bab Al-Hawa: Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee with direct routes to northern Aleppo.
Pre-positioned UN aid inside north-west Syria was quickly released with the support of local partners in the first days of the earthquakes. Since the disaster struck, 456 trucks with UN aid crossed from Türkiye to north-west Syria using three border crossings. As of 27 February, 17 cross-border missions were completed to north-west Syria since the first interagency visit to Idleb on 14 February. Humanitarian partners have established more than 80 reception centers and distributed cash support to over 100,000 people, among other support, by the end of February. Amidst the earthquake response, active hostilities including artillery shelling continued to be reported in both the Idleb and northern Aleppo governorates.