Turkey and Syria “unlikely” to benefit from States support

Thursday 09 February 2023

Two countries reeling from a major earthquake, which has claimed the lives of at least 17,500 people, are unlikely to receive support from the States of Guernsey as they fall short of criteria set by the Overseas Aid & Development Commission.

Following questions from Express, Deputy Chris Blin, President of the Commission, said that the department “generally focuses its project and emergency aid work on a list of approximately 50 countries”.

He said that Turkey is too high on the UN Human Development Index to qualify for assistance – the 48^th most developed out of 189.

While Syria is one of the least developed countries in the world, Deputy Blin said it falls “second to last on the Corruption Perception Index”, which is compiled by Transparency International”. 

“The Commission is therefore unlikely to be in a position to assist in this instance, however it will continue to monitor the situation, and would be willing to consider providing support if concerns about an inadequate response to the disaster are raised and confirmed, and the secure delivery of aid can be guaranteed.”

Deputy Blin added that “the Commission is very sad to hear of the high loss of life and thousands of injuries caused” by the natural disaster. “It also has great sympathy for the injured and those facing the aftermath, including the loss of their homes”.

Pictured: Turkey and Syrian officials are struggling to deal with the fallout of the natural disaster.

The high-magnitude earthquakes which occurred on February 6 have affected an area of approximately 400 kilometres.

This includes industrial cities where around 12 million people live, including around two million Syrian refugees.

Despite the devastation, the Commission is sticking with its support list “to target its limited emergency and disaster relief budget on helping the poorest of the poor in the developing world in a responsible manner. This is the Commission’s core work and remains vitally important”.

Jersey said earlier this week that its equivalent States committee is monitoring the "heartbreaking" fallout from the earthquakes.

Jersey Overseas Aid said its officers are in contact with humanitarian partners in the area, including the UN.

International Development Minister Deputy Carolyn Labey said: “JOA’s officers are in contact with humanitarian partners on the ground including the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). As you would expect at this stage, priority is being given to emergency search and rescue teams who are searching through the rubble.

"We will continue to closely monitor the situation and identify how Jersey could best support the relief effort."