U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said that the country is extending an additional $100 million in urgent humanitarian aid in response to the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of State, USAID said in an official press release.
Following the terrible earthquakes, the United States announced $85 million in aid for Türkiye and Syria, increasing the total amount of aid declared for the earthquake response to $185 million. As the agency in charge of leading the American government’s reaction actions in support of Türkiye’s emergency relief efforts and humanitarian groups in Syria, USAID is giving priority to the swift delivery of relief materials.
As part of the recently announced $100 million in earthquake aid, President Biden plans to appropriate $50 million in Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Funds (ERMA) in response to the unexpected and terrible earthquake in Türkiye and Syria.
With the money made public today, U.S. humanitarian partners will be able to assist millions of people in Türkiye and Syria and help them cope with unfathomable levels of loss and destruction in their communities.
Since at least 150,000 individuals have been rendered homeless and millions more are seeking shelter at makeshift locations spread throughout the affected areas, USAID is offering emergency food and shelter to those who have recently been displaced.
In order to help families weather the bitter cold as the temperature drops below freezing and hypothermia becomes a problem, USAID is giving them winter supplies. Additionally, with the help of this new funding, partners will be able to mobilize vital medical assistance in regions where hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, as well as safe drinking water to ward off infectious diseases and assistance with hygiene and sanitation to keep people healthy and safe. These funds will keep helping USAID partner groups who are actively engaged in Syria. The United States has given the Syrian people more than $15 billion in aid since the conflict there began.
At President Biden’s command, the US government quickly mobilized hours after the earthquakes to support Türkiye’s government and its humanitarian allies in Syria. The Disaster Assistance Response Team’s deployment was announced on the same day by USAID Administrator Samantha Power (DART). At its height, the DART included more than 200 individuals, including 12 dogs, 164 search and rescue personnel, and disaster specialists from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. USAID is expanding its scope of response activities beyond search and rescue to concentrate on accelerating the quick distribution of aid to millions of individuals.
With employees still in Adana and Ankara, the USAID DART team continues to oversee US operations there. After 11 days on the ground, the DART search and rescue team left Türkiye yesterday. Even though the search is over, the DART is still in close contact with the Turkish government, the UN, its NGO partners, other international partners, and Syrian humanitarian organizations to closely coordinate response efforts, report needs and conditions there, and give priority to providing aid to the hardest-hit communities. We are still committed to providing Türkiye and Syria with the aid they require as soon as we can.
