Muhammed Enes Yeninar, 17, rescued along with his brother Abdulbaki Yeninar, 21, (not pictured) from under the rubble of a collapsed building 198 hours after two earthquakes hit Turkiye. (Credit: Mehmet Taha Mazı/AA)
Elham Asaad Buaras
Muslim communities, relief organisations, mosques, and Islamic centres from across the UK have mobilised to assist victims of the deadliest earthquake in a decade, which has claimed over 40,000 lives in Türkiye (35,418) and Syria (5,800). The disaster has left 17 million people in need of shelter, food, and medical help, according to the Disasters Emergency Committee, with the UN estimating that seven million of them are children.
The first earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck at 4:17 am on February 6 and was centred in the Pazarcık district of Türkiye’s Kahramanmaraş province. Over 12 hours later, a second (7.6) earthquake struck the same region, causing structural damage as far away as western Azerbaijan. The earthquake-affected areas in Syria that are divided between government-controlled territory and opposition-held pocket of land, which is surrounded by government forces.
Among the many mosques and Islamic centres to launch appeals for the earthquake victims is Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham, which days after the earthquake donated over £140,000 for disaster relief. East London Mosque raised £60,000 in donations.
“I am touched by the compassion of our sisters and brothers in the UK, especially from the East London Mosque, for collecting funds to aid the survivors of the recent earthquakes,” said Ümit Yalçın, Turkish Ambassador to the UK, in a message of support, read out after Friday prayers.
.@elondonmosque has so far helped raise £60,000 in donations to support earthquake victims in Türkiye and Syria. #TurkeySyriaEarthquakes
👉https://t.co/mR3TyY5U2Z pic.twitter.com/yjgXJiGgiT
— East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre (@elondonmosque) February 10, 2023
Dar-ul-Isra Mosque in Cardiff has so far raised £25,000 as well as five vans of clothes to be delivered to the affected areas. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the capital’s Turkish and Syrian communities self-organised, launching fundraisers, coordinating volunteers to handle clothes donations.
On February 14, King Charles met with members of London’s Turkish and Syrian diaspora communities, who have been collecting, packaging, and transporting food, blankets, and warm clothing for earthquake survivors, to express solidarity with the victims.
Kral III. Charles Batı Londra Türk Gönüllüleri derneğini ziyaretle, deprem yardımları hakkında bilgi aldı.
HM King Charles III visited West London Turkish Volunteers who are contributing to relief efforts. pic.twitter.com/bISi7u5xLz
— Türkiye in the UK (@TC_LondraBE) February 14, 2023
In Stoke Newington, northeast London, volunteers at the Turkish Aziziye Mosque are raising funds for the Turkish Red Crescent. Students at UCL and the LSE’s Turkish and Syrian societies clubbed together with the British Red Cross. The UCL volunteers raised £4,600 in a single day, which encouraged them to extend the sale for another day to maximise donations.
https://twitter.com/ThisIsTheRealBA/status/1624349286405226497?s=20
In Luton, Atilla Ustun, a spokesman for the British Turkish Association, said, “All communities” in London had been “emotional.” Ustun helped deliver more than 300 boxes of donated clothing, medical supplies, and aid for babies to Türkiye. All the communities in Luton and around have swarmed to donate ” he said. “In Luton, we’ve raised around £20,000. In London, it’s now between £200,000 and £300,000.”
Muslim-owned businesses also contributed. Haringe’s famous Turkish eateries of Green Lanes, such as Gökyüzü, donated their takings. Neighbouring restaurants Selale and Turkish patisserie Antepzade are fundraising and donating.
In Bradford, Overland Developments raised £125,000. Boss Parvez Akhtar said two workers at the firm headed out to the region to offer direct help funded by tge company. In Southampton, Shahjalal Mosque and Islamic Centre raised more than £2,000 in mere hours.
Asda, owned by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, has donated £100,000 to UNICEF in aid of the earthquake victims. Asda’s clothing and homeware division, George, has also been in close contact with its regional suppliers, who are providing shelter and clothing to families who have lost their homes. In addition, the George Office in Türkiye is donating warm clothing to those in need.
In Parliament, Anum Qaisar MP emphasised the need to ensure that women and girls are provided with sanitary products and dedicated support. “Given the disproportionate impact that such disasters can have on women and girls, it is vital that the UK Government ensure designated ring-fenced support is provided to help with such issues as ensuring adequate access to hygiene facilities… necessities such as sanitary products are often overlooked when coordinating relief efforts. Where sanitary products are unavailable or become inaccessible after a natural disaster, it can often lead to increased infection and disease rates,” said the MP for Airdrie and Shotts.
The Muslim News presents reports from the Al-Khair Foundation and Muslim Hands, two of nine Muslim Charities Forum-affiliated NGOs to dispatch teams to the region.
Mark Thomas, Al-Khair Foundation
Al-Khair’s emergency appeal, which was launched within hours of the earthquakes, started by scoping the priority needs after tens of thousands of homes, hospitals, and schools were destroyed by the earthquakes. Imam Qasim, Executive Chair of Croydon-based Al-Khair Foundation, one of the UK’s leading Muslim charities, is in Türkiye to oversee the delivery of humanitarian relief to the earthquake-affected regions in Türkiye and Syria.
The team is working flat out to complement the national relief efforts, which will include the distribution of temporary shelters and tents, food packs, water containers, as well as sanitation kits to the homeless in the first relief phase. Medical support will also be supplied while future needs are assessed.
Despite being a veteran of dozens of major incidents around the globe, Imam Qasim was truly shocked by what greeted him. “The destruction is extremely bad—on a level I don’t think I have ever seen before. It is a true natural disaster,” he said.
“We are still scoping needs alongside delivery, but there is an immediate urgent need for shelter, food, clean water, and sanitation. We are working as fast as we can to distribute the basics. I am also sure the full scale of what has happened has yet to unfold.”
“This is so grave there is no doubt it will take an almost unprecedented internationally coordinated effort to repair all the damage. It will take years to rebuild these regions.”
He added, “I am so grateful to all our supporters for the generous way they have responded to the launch of our Türkiye and Syria Earthquake Appeal. The reaction has been wonderful so far. But it is vital that donations keep coming in. I can’t emphasise enough how bad the situation is here in Türkiye and Syria. It will take billions to repair the regions, so every penny counts.”
To donate to Al-Khair’s earthquake appeal, please visit: CLICK HERE
Sahirah Javaid, Senior Press Officer, Muslim Hands
Muslim Hands has raised £500,000 for the victims of the Türkiye and Syria earthquakes in four days after launching a global appeal to raise £5 million. The money will go towards the first phase of distributing emergency life-saving aid such as tents, hot meals, water, winter essentials; blankets and warm clothing.
So far, Muslim Hands has provided 2,950 hot meals, 1,000 soup servings, 1,000 blankets, and 550 clothing sets for children in Kahramanmaraş, Şanlıurfa, and Gaziantep through our partners, Hayrat Aid and Ensar Association, reaching 6,500 beneficiaries.
The long-term intervention will include building permanent homes for those affected by the devastating earthquakes.
The aftermath of the earthquake now poses additional risks, especially to those most vulnerable, such as the elderly, women, and children.
Hundreds of thousands are homeless in harsh, freezing temperatures with shortages in fuel and electricity and limited supplies of food and essential medicines.
Staff on the ground have seen harrowing scenes of buildings obliterated, families camping on the roadside, burning what they can find to keep warm, seeking shelter in mosques, and even their cars to protect them from below-freezing temperatures. Other survivors rushed to airports in panic, desperate to get on the first available flights.
Muslim Hands has been working in Türkiye and Syria for over a decade, assisting internally displaced Syrians affected by the 12-year civil war through our bread factory in Idlib, which produces 50,000 loaves of bread daily, feeding 25,000 people, and our annual distributions during winter, Ramadan, and Qurbani, which cover locations between the Türkiye-Syria borders. Our supporters have donated over 1,000 permanent homes in Northern Syria, re-homing over 7,000 Syrians.
Mehmet Ali and his family are currently seeking shelter on the side of the road after the earthquakes had them flee their homes. He has four children, the youngest of whom is a six-month-old baby. After receiving blankets from Muslim Hands, he quickly threw it over his son to stay warm through the night. “There are cracks in our home, and we are afraid the building will collapse. We ran out of our home with nothing and are scared to return in case another earthquake strikes.”
Ayman Agabani, a Muslim Hands staff member, currently on the ground in Şanlıurfa said, “We visited a local mosque that was considered a safe place and was housing Syrian refugees that had escaped the earthquakes in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes on their back.
In response, Muslim Hands and our partners on the ground are providing families with the essentials, such as thick blankets and hot food, as they have lost everything. We are urgently requesting our supporters to continue to give because the extremely chilly weather is a major problem. The weather is bitter, and for those stuck outside with nowhere to go, many are forced to sleep in their cars. It is a tragic situation.”
Yasrab Shah, Fundraising Director, said, “At the end of 2022, we visited our projects in Northern Syria, and so we know the areas affected well, such as Hatay and Gaziantep. We are devastated by what has happened to those impacted in southern Türkiye. Those who supported us in our project work in Northern Syria have now become in need themselves. For those in northern Syria who were already in desperate need because of the ongoing civil war are now finding themselves in a further crippling situation.”
To donate to Muslim Hands earthquake appeal, please visit: CLICK HERE
