Source: Save the Children
One in three children who lost their homes in the Türkiye earthquakes a year ago are still living in temporary shelters, while children in both Türkiye and Syria have struggled with anxiety and other mental health issues since the disaster, Save the Children said.
Two massive earthquakes and aftershocks in Türkiye and Syria last February killed over 56,000 [1] people and displaced millions with about 6.2 million children impacted.
In Türkiye, about 2.4 million people [2], including 660,000 children [3], were forced from their homes into temporary settlements living in tents and metal containers as narrow as parking a space. One year on, over 761,000 people, including 205,000 children, are yet to return home [3].
While Turkish authorities are trying to move people to formal housing areas, almost half (355,000) of those displaced are in informal, unregulated sites, often made up of small tents or metal containers, some as small as 3×7 metres [4].
While in Syria, children who survived the earthquake have faced an economic crisis and an escalation in conflict, further damaging schools and health centres. Thousands are now without access to shelter and food, and much of the assistance from the UN World Food Programme in earthquake-affected areas has been suspended [5].
Children are also struggling to process and cope with everything they have endured. In the aftermath of the earthquakes, 85% of children with disabilities that spoke to Save the Children’s partners in Syria reported difficulties interacting with their families, fri
