Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

2 min read
11 February 2023 | 7:15 CAT

Approximately more than five million Syrians may be homeless after Monday’s devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the country and its neighbour Turkey, according to a United Nations official.

Picture: Al Jazeerah

“As many as 5.3 million people in Syria may have been left homeless by the earthquake. That is a huge number and comes to a population already suffering mass displacement,” says Sivanka Dhanapala, the Syria representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday.

Aid groups estimate that almost 24,000 people have already died across Turkey and Syria because of the quake with more than 3,300 of the deceased in Syria.

“There are 6.8 million people already internally displaced in the country. And this was before the earthquake,” says the UNHCR in a statement.

The UN says a second aid convoy of 14 trucks has crossed into rebel-held areas of Syria, after an initial six vehicles went in on Thursday.

This comes as Syrian government says it would allow aid deliveries to rebel-held areas outside of its control, in cooperation with the UN and humanitarian organisations.

Meanwhile, the UN on Friday released another $25m in emergency funding for Syria, bringing the total so far to $50m.