Toronto, February 6, 2025 – One in four children who lost their homes in the Türkiye earthquakes two years ago remain in temporary shelters such as shipping containers while access to necessities and services such as education remain a challenge, Save the Children said.
In February 2023, two huge earthquakes and aftershocks rocked Türkiye and Syria, killing over 56,000 [1] people and displacing millions. About 6.2 million children were impacted.
In Türkiye two years on, about 538,000 of the 2.4 million people who were displaced, including about 150,000 children, have yet to return home with many families living in camps made up of prefabricated containers measuring about two metres by eight metres, often sharing toilets and kitchens.[2]
According to the government, about 680,000 homes were destroyed in the earthquake region [3], nut as of December 2024 less than a quarter of the homes needed had been rebuilt. [4]
Nida*, 8, lives in Hatay in southeastern Turkey with her family in a container city after the earthquake damaged her family’s home. Despite the challenges of living in a temporary settlement, Nida* says that she finds relief and joy through the psychosocial support activities provided by a Save the Children mobile van which provides support to affected children.
Nida* said: “When the mobile van arrives, I feel really good.”
Alper*,9, also lives in a prefabricated container in Hatay after his home was destroyed in the earthquake. Following the earthquake, Alper began attending a school that was only slightly damaged, but it became overcrowded as students from more damaged schools were transferred there. He now attends a Save the Children temporary learning space housed in a container.
The container classrooms were initially a new experience for Alper* but soon became a place where he felt comfortable.
“School means having fun, learning and playing for me. Having activities with my friends and studying with teachers,” said Alper*.
Children affected by the earthquake are still feeling its impact today. A UN-led survey in May last year found that in earthquake-affected households, one in four children were not in school.[5] In Syria meanwhile, despite optimism following the recent transition in government, the situation remains volatile and new needs have emerged while the effects of the earthquake still persist.
Almost 3 million children had been forced to leave their homes and were displaced prior to the earthquake, which uprooted another 500,000 people [6]. Then last year, the escalation of violence in northern Syria drove another one million people from their homes – more than half of them children – and some half a million still remain displaced. Many of the displaced were from Aleppo and Idlib, which were also hard-hit by the 2023 earthquake.
Sasha Ekanayake, Save the Children’s Country Director for Türkiye, said:
“Two years might feel like a long time ago, but children and their families affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye are still rebuilding their lives. One in four children who lost their homes in the earthquake are still to return, living in containers that are vulnerable to cold and heat.
“When the earthquakes hit, they did not just destroy homes but everything as these children once knew it – schools, community life and any sense of stability. We are on the road to recovery, but every additional day that these children are out of school, living in a temporary shelter, or away from their communities and friends is another day that their lives and futures are on hold.
“Save the Children is working hard in collaboration with local authorities to support children to resume their education and access basic services but needs remain high. The international community must not forget about Türkiye.”
Bujar Hoxha, acting Syria Response Director said:
“Children in Syria are still reeling from the effects of the earthquake which took away their homes, schools and health centres, yet the continued humanitarian suffering of children has been almost relentless due to the economic devastation brought on by nearly 14 years of war and the spike in conflict at the end of last year.
“While people in Syria remain cautiously optimistic following the recent change in government, children in Syria have lost their homes and their sense of safety time and time again and humanitarian needs are greater than ever. Last year 16.7 million people – almost half of them children- were in need of humanitarian aid, more than at any time since the start of the conflict in 2011.
“Donors need to urgently scale up funding to meet the evolving and existing needs of children and families, while helping families to rebuild their lives in peace and safety.”
Save the Children has been working in Türkiye since 2013. When the earthquake struck, we were one of the first organisations to provide clothing, water and food to affected families. We have worked with eight Turkish partner organisations to support over 500,000 people as of the end of 2024. Save the Children has provided safe learning spaces, school supplies and teacher training as well as rebuilding and the rehabilitation of schools that were damaged or destroyed in coordination with national authorities. We have also built homes, provided mental health support and distributed vital supplies.
Since 2012, Save the Children has supported more than 8.3 million people in Syria, including 4.8 million children. In 2024, we supported over 960,000 people, including more than 520,000 children. We work both directly and through local partners across Syria.
NOTES TO EDITORS
[2] 660,000 children were estimated to have been displaced into tents and containers after the earthquake with the number of children calculated based on a share of 27% of children among the total by applying the same ratio of children (2.5 million) among the overall population affected by the earthquake in Türkiye (9.1 million) as per UNICEF. The latest data from the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) from October 2024 found that 538,000 people were still living in temporary settlements in the provinces of Adiyaman, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Malatya.
[5] Türkiye Education Sector Working Group, Education Sector Needs Overview, May 2024
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