Weekly Action - 6 February 2023 - Turkey/Syria Earthquake
Turkey/Syria Earthquake
A devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Gaziantep in Turkey in the early hours of Mon 6 February, causing widespread devastation in southern Turkey and northern Syria. More than 11,000 people are now known to have been killed, and the death toll is rising by the hour. The survivors are in desperate need of shelter, warmth, clothes, food, medical and psychological support, and in the longer term rebuilding. Local residents, and emergency services are working around the clock to rescue survivors, and international support is flooding in. In just one tragic story, Al Jazeera reports how in Jindires in northwestern Syria a single newborn baby was pulled from the rubble, the only survivor of her whole family.[1] Such tragedies have been repeated thousands of times over across the region.
Such terrible natural disasters are devastating wherever they strike. But, they are much more deadly when they hit developing countries, that are already poorer and more vulnerable. Turkey is currently classified by the World Bank as a Middle Income Country, whilst Syria is a Low Income Country, and has of course been devastated by civil war for more than a decade. There are multiple studies that show that natural disasters are much more deadly and cause far greater loss of life and suffering when they hit less developed countries, than when they occur in rich nations. Developed nations have safer (properly enforced) building regulations, infrastructure and large emergency and healthcare systems, all of which help significantly reduce the casualties. Indeed, there have been numerous cases where the very same tropical storms that have been devastating in Latin America and the Caribbean, caused far fewer deaths when they hit the more developed Unites States.
Tackling the underlying poverty that leaves nations vulnerable to disasters
The governments of the world therefore, need to provide both short-term emergency relief for those impacted by disasters like this latest terrible earthquake in Turkey and Syria, but also long-term development support to help lift nations out of poverty, and make them more resilient to such shocks. This very much reflects what we already know as Christians, that the Bible is abundantly clear that we should care for all those in need. As James tells us, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1: 27) Arise’s 4 Shifts Report and Campaign looks at this and other lessons from the Bible, and at what has worked to successfully lift nations out of poverty in the past. It finds that two key shifts are essential. 1) Nations need to develop strong and fair national economies to create jobs and wealth. 2) They can then tax these to provide social spending and basic services like healthcare and education, to ensure all benefit, not just the richest in society. All nations that have developed successfully have followed this route, and the international community should do all it can to support other nations to take the same approach. This is the only way to tackle the root underlying vulnerability of poverty and make nations more resilient to tragic disasters like the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Will you take action as part of Arise’s 4 Shifts campaign this week, and urge nations around the world to respond to the immediate needs of those whose lives have been devastated in Turkey and Syria, and to provide generous long-term support to all nations to lift themselves out of poverty?
Take Action
Speak out in advocacy
Write to your MP in your own words asking them to take urgent action to:
1. Urge the government to dramatically scale up the emergency aid it is providing to Turkey and Syria to meet the immediate needs of those whose lives have been devastated by this tragic earthquake.
2. Urge the government to scale up overseas aid back to 0.7% of GDP, and to focus this on supporting nations to develop a proactive national industrial and economic development strategy to create a diverse national economy that progressively moves up the value chain from agriculture to manufacturing to services to the knowledge economy. This will tackle the root underlying vulnerability of poverty and make developing nations more resilient to tragic disasters like the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Find your MP, and their contact details here
Pray
Pray for all those whose lives have been devastated by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Pray for healing for all those who have been injured. Pray for love and comfort for those who grieve, and that they might know the Lord drawing close to them at this time. Pray for the survivors, for shelter, warmth, clothes, food, medical and psychological support.
Give
The Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) of UK overseas humanitarian aid agencies has launched an urgent appeal to support the victims of the earthquakes. Give to Christian organisations like Christian Aid, Cafod, Tearfund or World Vision who are members of the DEC and are supporting communities in Turkey and Syria.
Practical Action
If you are from outside of the UK, help spread the message further by getting in touch with us at info@ariseuk.org and letting us know if you would be interested in helping set up a branch of Arise in your country.
Ethical Consumption
Help developing nations lift themselves out of poverty, and therefore become more resilient to tragic disasters like the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, by buying products and services with the Fairtrade mark, where a much higher proportion of your money goes to producers in the developing world.
Encourage us and others by letting us know what actions you have taken – message us at info@ariseuk.org, or via Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Find out more
It’s great to take this action as individual Christians, but even better to come together with others to pray, discuss, worship, learn, have fun and take action together. Contact Arise if you are interested in joining or starting a local Arise group in your church or area. If you are already in an Arise group, take this action to your wider church, and get them all to do it too.
Find out more about why the world needs 4 Shifts to transition to a green and fair global economy in Arise’s 4 Shifts Report, and how this forms part of God’s bigger vision for our world in the Arise Manifesto.
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[1] 1,000 dead as Turkey, Styria earthquake search continues, Al Jazeera, (8 Feb 2023), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/8/turkey-syria-earthquake-search-intensifies-as-death-toll-climbs