Technical support to Caritas Luxembourg following the February 2023 earthquake in Turkey

On February 6th, 2023, two devastating earthquakes occurred in Syria and Turkey. In Turkey alone, the number of people affected by the earthquakes is estimated to be between 13 and 20 million: more than 50,000 people lost their lives. The Turkish authorities reported that approximately 232,000 buildings had been badly damaged, and had been demolished or were in urgent need of demolition. More than two million people were evacuated from the earthquake area. 1.5 million of them live in tents and 300,000 in containers, often in overcrowded conditions which bring health and protection problems.

Whenever possible, and particularly in rural areas, families have put up tents near their damaged homes – known as ‘informal tented settlements’ (ITS).  Thousands of ITSs have been established in cities and villages. Some of these have very poor conditions, with few services.

According to UN OCHA, there are still significant gaps in the assistance being delivered to the people in the informal tented settlements in urban and rural areas and needs have not yet been prioritised. This is due to a critical lack of funding and limited operational capacity. There are also significant needs in the official tent and container sites managed by the Turkish civil protection agency, AFAD, despite the efforts of the government.

It is in this context that Groupe URD is providing support to CARITAS Luxembourg and its national partner ASAM in the water and shelter sectors. Following a field visit in April when we evaluated the state of the ‘informal tented settlements’ and the affected buildings in the province of Hatay, we made recommendations to ASAM for measures to improve shelter conditions.