EU sends humanitarian supplies to Syria for earthquake relief

As part of an EU humanitarian air bridge for Syria, two planes with emergency aid landed Monday in Damascus, to provide further support for the Syrian people impacted by the earthquake. Cyprus is among the 15 EU countries that offered in-kind assistance.

A press release by the European Commission says that the planes delivered much-needed relief items such as winterized tents, shelter equipment and heaters.

These are the first such flights landing in Damascus, but they are part of a series of flights transporting assistance from the EU's own humanitarian stockpiles in Brindisi and Dubai to the Syrian people in both government-controlled and non-government-controlled areas, via the mobilization of the European Humanitarian Response Capacity.

Overall, the EU humanitarian air bridge for Syria will deliver 420 tonnes of assistance, including 225 tonnes from the EU's own humanitarian stockpiles worth €1.1 million.

In addition, 15 European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia and Slovenia) have offered in-kind assistance to Syria in response to the activation of EU Civil Protection Mechanism on 8 February.

So far, the EU has responded to the earthquake with €10 million of humanitarian assistance, including €3.9 million in new funds and more than €6 million repurposed through ongoing humanitarian projects.

As regards Turkey, more than 1,650 rescuers and 110 search dogs were deployed via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to support the search and rescue operations.

While the rescue teams have de-mobilized, 5 medical teams from Albania, Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain are still operating on the ground and have treated more than 4,000 people so far. 20 EU Member States have also offered shelter items, medical equipment, food and clothes via the Mechanism.

The EU has, thus far, allocated around €5.7 million for humanitarian assistance to help people affected by the earthquake in Turkey.

Furthermore, the European Commission and the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU are going to host a Donors' Conference, in coordination with the Turkish authorities, in March in Brussels. The goal is to mobilize funds from the international community to support the people of Turkey and Syria following this natural disaster.