Türkiye

Severe earthquake in Türkiye and Syria: Help now with your donation!

After the devastating earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border region, Malteser International has sent an emergency relief team to the affected region to provide rapid emergency aid together with our teams and partners on the ground. All help is needed now. Be part of it and donate now for the affected people in Türkiye and Syria!

With your donation you support the affected people in need in Türkiye and Syria!

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Find all information on the situation, our emergency relief and how you can help here.

Earthquake in Türkiye and Syria: All information and ways to help

Our aid in Türkiye before the earthquake

With over 3.7 million refugees from Syria who fled the ongoing war in their homeland Türkiye is one of the most welcoming countries in the world. The influx of refugees into Türkiye began in 2011 and the large number of refugees poses an increasing burden on the country's social infrastructure.

Less than two percent of the refugees are accommodated in the 7 refugee camps in Türkiye. The vast majority of Syrian refugees either live on the streets or have to endure desolate and unhygienic housing conditions. They are not properly integrated into the labour market and many of them do not speak the Turkish language. There is no prospect of people returning to their home country in the near future.

Many people are suffering from the consequences of violence experienced in Syria. In order to prevent them from chronic post-traumatic stress disorders it is important to provide them with psychological support.

Help the Syrian refugees in Türkiye!

Donate now for our projects in Türkiye!

With your donation, we support access to physiotherapy and psychosocial support for Syrian refugees in Türkiye

Since 2012, we have been providing humanitarian aid to refugees from Syria in cooperation with our local partner in the southern Turkish border town of Gaziantep, as well as cross-border in Syria itself. The focus of our humanitarian work in Türkiye is on health care, especially rehabilitation measures in the form of physiotherapy treatments, as well as psychosocial support for the refugees. In this way, we help to improve the physical and psychosocial well-being of those affected.

Since the severe earthquake in the Türkiye/Syria border region on 06 February 2023, our humanitarian aid activities have also focused on providing emergency relief in the affected regions.

Rehabilitative therapy for Syrian refugees

Stories from our work in Türkiye:

Health care on wheels: mobile clinics for people affected by the earthquake in Türkiye

Even months later, the devastating earthquake that hit southern Türkiye and northern Syria in February this year, has enormous impacts on the people living in affected areas. To this day, we are supporting our local partner organisations in the procurement of relief supplies as well as in the provision of healthcare services. Malteser International, together with its local partner organization IDA, operates two mobile clinics in Türkiye, providing free primary health care services in the towns of Islahiye and Nurdağı, in Gaziantep province, and a physiotherapy center in Kilis, located in Türkiye’s Southeast Anatolia region.

Faces of our work: Betoul Abras

When Betoul Abras graduated in Psychology from the University of Aleppo, the Syrian Civil War was already underway. In 2013, she left her job in the country and, with her parents, became herself one of millions of Syrian refugees in Türkiye. She worked in a community center of the International Blue Crescent (IBC) in cooperation with Malteser International providing mental health and psychosocial support to thousands of refugees in Kilis, Türkiye. Today, Betoul works with Malteser International. She prepares projects in psychosocial support and trains partner organizations of Malteser International on psychologically related healthcare topics. Her book "Memories Shattered by War" tells the story of ten Syrian refugees in Türkiye and their experiences of the brutal conflict that has sparked the largest humanitarian crisis of our time.

Of Hardship and Hope – Finding Sanctuary in Art

“It used to be very grey, but now I can see life in colors rand I feel safe.” Wars and conflict can affect a child’s feeling of security and hope, displacement can also turn a child’s life upside down. Safe spaces for self-expression can play a central role in helping children work through their experiences of trauma. Through her drawings, 10-year-old Shaheda is processing her experiences and expressing her wishes or hopes for the future.

Women Humanitarians: ''Humanitarian work is the best thing I am doing with my life''

When Betul Abras graduated from the University of Aleppo in Syria, the civil war was already underway. In 2013, she left the country with her parents to join the millions of Syrian seeking refuge in Türkiye. Today, the 30-year-old Psychologist works with Malteser International, helping her fellow Syrians to overcome the trauma of war and conflict. Her book "Memories Shattered by War", published in 2018, tells the story of ten Syrian refugees in Türkiye and their experiences of the brutal conflict that has sparked the largest humanitarian crisis of our time. We talked with her about how it is to be a #WomenHumanitarian.

Batoul: Syrian refugee helping fellow citizens in Türkiye

Batoul, herself a Syrian refugee in Türkiye, is helping other refugees from the ongoing conflict in her homeland to deal with their often-traumatic experiences. She works with Malteser International to prepare projects in psychosocial support and trains partner organizations of Malteser International on psychologically related healthcare topics.

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