They were sleeping in the safety of their beds, and in the arms of their parents, pouring love, peace, and reassurance from them, when the devastating earthquake surprised them.
Silence and screams, astonishment and trembling, groaning and crying… Weeping scenes reported by social media platforms for the victims of the earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6, leaving behind more than 41,000 dead in Turkey and Syria, many of them children and adolescents.
There are no documented estimates of the number of child victims so far, but UNICEF indicates that thousands have died under the rubble, according to preliminary indications, warning at the same time that more than 7 million children (4.6 million children in the ten earthquake-hit provinces in Turkey and 2.5 million children in northern Syria) need urgent humanitarian support.
If the earthquake occurred on adults catastrophically, the matter with children is even more tragic. It is certain that this tragedy will have a devastating effect on the child’s mentality and psyche, in light of the terrifying scenes that he experienced under the rubble and among the body parts of the parents, which requires urgent action to restore the psychological and mental balance of these children. Before they turn into time bombs, threatening their lives and the future lives of their communities.
Ahmed lost his father and three brothers and was left alone.
Bisan, who lost her parents and six sisters, suffers from a broken hip and neck.
Sondos, lost her parents and her twin sister, and was left alone with her aunt.
Sham, got out after 40 hours from under the rubble, but lost her mother and sister.
After their stories, we have no words or expression.#Syria pic.twitter.com/cbG6ln4a1h
— Molham Team | Molham volunteer team (@molhamteam) February 10, 2023
Terrifying moments in which the follower cannot control himself as he waits for the moments of surviving children emerging from under the rubble after more than five days or a week. Few come out alive, even if the wounds distorted the features of his innocent face. As for the majority, their souls precede them to heaven after leaving their skinny bodies that could not bear the horror of the scene.
The looks of horror that hang over the eyes of the surviving children, the resounding silence that imposes itself, and the shiver that grips their bodies, reveals in a way that does not need to explain the details of the suffering, the magnitude of the feeling, and the tragedy of the whole picture, even if it was met with shouts of joy and jubilation from the paramedics and rescue teams who see this as a divine miracle. .
Here is the Turkish doctor Nursa Keskin, a pediatrician and deputy director of the hospital in the city of Adana (southern Turkey), who lost her family in the earthquake, but she did not hesitate to perform her duty towards children and young people, so she immediately went to the hospital to carry out her humanitarian role, she says in her talk To the BBC, there are more than 260 unidentified children in that hospital, who lost their families and relatives in the disaster.
A father was comforting his children under the rubble… The little girl says: “My father used to bring us air”… She came out alive with her brother.#EastMediterraneanEarthquake #earthquake #Earthquake_in_Turkey_and_Syria #Earthquake _ Syria _ Turkey #Earthquake _ Turkey _ Syria #TurkeySyriaEarthquake #earthquakeinturkey pic.twitter.com/gvq9MngSSw
– Visions for War Studies (@Roaastudies) February 9, 2023
Keskin held the hand of a child suffering from multiple fractures and severe bruises on the face, saying, “We know where she was found, and how she got here. But we are trying to find an address, and the search is still going on.” She confirms that there are hundreds of other cases of unidentified children, whose parents died or died. Their families cannot be found, and about the doctors’ communication with these difficult cases, and if there is a response from them, Dr. Elkenor Banlisor, Department of Pediatric Surgery at the hospital, says: “No, they only communicate with eyes and gestures.”
And here is “Musa”, the Syrian child who did not exceed ten years of age, telling the story of his survival and the horror scenes he experienced under the rubble, while the wounds on his face paint the ugliest painting in the history of humanity, and he says that his mother woke him up when she felt the earthquake, and when he got up, the ceiling of his room had collapsed Nothing happened to my family, but my little brother Bassam died.”
UNICEF is calling for urgent action to save children in southern Turkey and northern Syria before the situation worsens, given the specificity and sensitivity of the situation and the possibility that it will cross red lines in the coming days after carrying out the complete removal of rubble after losing hope of finding survivors, in addition to the bad weather conditions that may increase suffering.
UNICEF Executive Director Kathryn Russell says children and families in Turkey and Syria “are facing unimaginable hardship because of the earthquake, so we must do everything we can to ensure that all survivors of this disaster have access to life-saving support, including safe water and health services.” Sanitation, nutrition and critical medical supplies, and support for children’s mental health, not just now but in the long term as well.”
Through its continuous presence from the beginning, the organization indicates that hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Turkish families are today in miserable conditions, as they have lost their homes and are living today in temporary shelters, in addition to the severe cold and rains that deepen the deepening tragedy of course due to the scarcity of facilities and the interruption of services. life, especially in northern Syria.
On the Turkish side, despite the tragic scene in general and the situation of children in particular, the matter may be remedied during the coming times, as most of the families in the south have men working in cities that were not exposed to the dangers of the earthquake, such as Istanbul and Ankara, in contrast to members of southern families who got married. With members of other families in the northern cities, which ultimately means the possibility of finding relatives for the earthquake survivors who are suffering today from wounds and injuries in hospitals, even those who are known as “unknown,” according to remarks Journalist for a source in the Turkish Ministry of Family and Social Affairs.
As for Syria, the situation is different in form and content. The war that has been going on for 12 years between the Assad regime and its militias on the one hand and the Syrian opposition on the other hand has left behind 1.2 million orphaned children. Today, the matter may exceed what is expected after the earthquake in the north, which naturally suffers from poor living conditions in terms of environments. suitable for the upbringing and normal development of children, which prompted international organizations to warn that the lives of 2.5 million Syrian children in the northern regions are in danger.
And in a report An interview with the Arab Council (established as an international organization in February 2022 in Switzerland and chaired by Moncef Marzouki, and is considered an extension of the experience of the “Arab Council for the Defense of Democratic Revolutions”, whose establishment was announced in July 2014 in Tunisia) revealed that 18% of Syrian children who are Those of school age do not go to school, and that the conflict in the country has led to the disruption of more than 1,600 schools, some of which have been turned into interrogation and detention centers, and others into military barracks, which makes educational environments, especially in the north, unsafe, which threatens the future of entire generations in those areas. Regions.
The tragedy here does not stop at the barrier of the children who died under the rubble of the earthquake, but it may exacerbate it with the survivors, which is what the Russian analyst of Syrian origins, Lana Padvan, warned, saying: “This natural disaster will lead to a psychological and mental collapse for many children who They lost their loved ones, as we heard their screams while they lay among the rubble in their demolished homes, which is something they cannot easily overcome,” noting that the children of Syria today and before tomorrow, and more than ever before, need advanced psychological care to help them overcome that ordeal.
#Earthquake _ Turkey _ Syria
Here you stand, and all words fail to describe this chilling scene, and we stand completely helpless
Only God’s power remains above all causes of life#Child _ comes _ out _ from _ under The rubble was completely covered with dirt for dozens of hours
Who gave him oxygen, who fed him, and who warmed him? #God Almighty pic.twitter.com/ge9effxksv– Abdullah Al-Marwah (@ ABDOULLAH2MRWIH) February 11, 2023
There are no words to describe the horror of the scene and the extent of the suffering of the children under the rubble during those hours, so how can young people in the age of flowers be subjected to such a harsh test that the adolescents may not bear, which warns of severe psychological crises that they may be subjected to, crises that may afflict their present and threaten their future if It has not been dealt with with completely different mechanisms and methodologies than usual.
An expert in psychological support for disasters and crises, who holds a PhD in psychological support in psychodrama, Wafaa Abu Musa, describes the psychological support for surviving children in that situation as the “antibiotic” necessary to overcome the crisis and loss, and the first path towards the return of young people to their normal lives.
And in a dialogue “Al-Jazeera Net” interviewed her with her. Abu Musa divided the psychological support into two types: the first: that provided by the paramedics and rescue teams the moment the child got out from under the rubble, as it is necessary to put him in a safe place and reassure him as much as possible and as quickly as possible, and this matter may take from 3 days to two weeks This stage is called the “grief practice stage,” in which the child is inclined to cry and grieve for the family and friends he has lost.
rolling | The moment a Pakistani search and rescue team pulled a child alive from under the rubble#Earthquake _ Syria _ and _ Turkey #Earthquake _ Turkey _ Syria pic.twitter.com/IpJOD0MurB
– Dorar satellite channel (@DorarTVChannel) February 12, 2023
As for the second type of support, it is provided by specialists from health and psychiatry experts, and it is provided to the child after two weeks or ten days, depending on each case separately. Much to the horror of shock.
The doctor who specializes in psychological support for disasters and crises warns against placing orphaned children and those who have lost their families in orphanages, especially in the early stages. From their relatives or any other family prepared to help them, and it is important at this stage for the child to feel the presence of the family after the loss of his family.
With steadfastness and patience, this young man directs his distress from under the rubble 😭💔
Oh God, we ask you to be kind to their situation and have mercy on their weakness..
#Earthquake _ Turkey _ Syria#Syria _ is _ crying pic.twitter.com/YC0qiQDmyO– Amal Raed 🇶🇦 ✪ (@Amaalraeed) February 7, 2023
Here is a shared responsibility of everyone, what remains of the parents, neighbors, acquaintances, state agencies and civil society institutions, to unite in order to help the surviving children get out of this situation as quickly as possible, in order to preserve their lives from slipping into the swamps of psychological disorders that may turn their lives into hell in the future. , and make them lose the ability to provide anything for their communities and turn them into a dependent on society.
What happened should be a wake-up call and a warning bell for everyone, just as the international community demands that humanitarian crises be excluded from the battles of political conflict between states and regimes. Children must have an exceptional position, away from the tensions that, just as they lost their childhood and innocence for years, threaten them with losing their lives completely. .
The ugly thing in the picture is that those scenes, with all their tragedies, move stones and shake hardened hearts, did not move the consciences of those looking for political gains behind what happened, trading in the suffering and lives of children and losing the minimum level of human feeling that turned them into hyenas dancing on the body parts of young children, in an incident that will not happen. They are forgotten by history, which will continue to haunt them with shame, regardless of the factors of time erosion.
