Topics: World News, Charity, United Nations
An anonymous donor in the US walked into the Turkish embassy and donated USD $30 million (AUD $43.4m) to victims devastated by the earthquake.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced that a ‘deeply moved’ Pakistani citizen living in America decided to write the hefty cheque.
He hailed the move as a ‘glorious act of philanthropy’.
He wrote: “Deeply moved by the example of an anonymous Pakistani who walked into Turkish embassy in the US & donated $30 million for earthquake victims in Türkiye & Syria.
Deeply moved by the example of an anonymous Pakistani who walked into Turkish embassy in the US & donated $30 million for earthquake victims in Türkiye & Syria. These are such glorious acts of philanthropy that enable humanity to triumph over the seemingly insurmountable odds.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) February 11, 2023
“These are such glorious acts of philanthropy that enable humanity to triumph over the seemingly insurmountable odds.”
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AA reported that the Pakistani government formed a special cabinet last week to discuss how to provide relief for the victims of the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which struck Turkey near its border with Syria.
At the time of reporting, the number of people who died in Turkey and Syria has risen to more than 33,000 people, according to Reuters.
NHK World reported that Martin Griffiths, United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told reporters in Turkey the earthquake was the ‘worst’ to hit the region in over a century.
Over the weekend, Mr Griffiths visited Kahramanmaras, the southern Turkish province devastated by the natural disaster.
He also said that the UN had failed quake victims in north-west Syria, as many were still waiting for international help to arrive.
“At the Turkey-Syria border today. We have so far failed the people in north-west Syria,” he wrote on Twitter.
He added: “They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn’t arrived."
At the #Türkiye-#Syria border today.
— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) February 12, 2023
We have so far failed the people in north-west Syria.
They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn’t arrived.
My duty and our obligation is to correct this failure as fast as we can.
That’s my focus now.
Before the earthquake, humanitarian aid had entered north-west Syria through the Bab al-Hawa land crossing with Turkey.
However, roads had been damaged due to the quake, which has slowed down the transportation of supplies and has left the region without relief for several days.
“That slows down our deliveries,” Corinna Fleischer, WFP Regional Director in the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe, said in a statement.
“We need to be able to go across the borders, we need customs officials to be there in sufficient numbers…We need all parties to do the right thing now.”
According to the intergovernmental organization, over five million people in Syria alone may have been displaced.
