Ludhiana/Hatay/Turkey
15 February 2023
DIVYA AZAD
Responding to one of the worst disasters to hit Turkey, UNITED SIKHS is collaborating with various governments and local organizations for relief operations and expanding assistance to the most affected regions. This includes digging the rubble looking for survivors and distributing relief supplies.
In addition to the relief aid in Diyarbakir, the UNITED SIKHS team is going to set up a base in Hatay, one of the worst affected regions in southern Turkey.Our volunteers from Denmark and Germany have joined the relief operations. They are also collaborating with local volunteers to quickly expand humanitarian assistance to the most affected areas.
Speaking about the disaster and the collaboration with governments, Gurpreet Singh, CEO, UNITED SIKHS said, “We are in pain seeing the wide scale of devastation and suffering. To maximize the relief work across regions, we are collaborating with government agencies in Hatay. As part of the initiative, our supporters would also help ship relief consignments of required items to Turkey. We need your generous support in providing urgent humanitarian reliefto the thousands impacted.”
Gurvinder Singh, UNITED SIKHS International Humanitarian Aid Director also appealed that the scale of the disaster calls for a global response. “People are still trapped under the rubble. And those who survive have lost everything. They are in immediate need of humanitarian assistance. Please support us in providing critical aid to regions where no one has reached,” he said.
UNITED SIKHS on-ground teams report that supplies including non-perishable items like baby food, water, tents, heaters, mattresses, pillows, warm socks and shoes, female hygiene products in addition to portable toilets and medical supplies are urgently needed.
UNITED SIKHS continues to provide humanitarian relief to victims of man-made or natural calamities including the ongoing war in Ukraine. Our teams have provided humanitarian aid to earthquake victims in Pakistan in 2006, in Haiti in 2010, in Chile in 2010, in Japan in 2011, and in Pakistan-Afghanistan in 2015, as well.
Kavita Kumar, UNITED SIKHS volunteer from Denmark who joined the mission in Turkey said that it is hard to describe colossal damage and suffering. Temperatures are dropping below zero, making it worse for those displaced and homeless. Please help them by donating via https://donate-usa.keela.co/turkeyrelief
