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Abu Dhabi, UAE
Mahaz News
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“She used to jump up and down like a butterfly. Now, she is psychologically broken.”
Samer Sharif, 51, is speaking about his 15-year-old daughter Salma, who witnessed the dying of her brother and mom within the February 6 earthquake, and who for a number of days believed was orphaned earlier than unexpectedly being reunited together with her father.
After the earthquake struck, Sharif was advised that Salma, her 10-year-old brother Mohammed and his ex-wife had all died.
Standing earlier than the constructing that collapsed on high of his household, in Antakya, southern Turkey, Sharif stated that he “met with death at that moment.”
“There is nothing left in Antakya. It’s all gone,” he advised Mahaz News.
After sleeping on the streets for 2 days, Sharif left for Istanbul the place he stayed along with his sister and her husband.
While there he obtained some uncommon good news – his daughter was alive, and recovering in hospital.
The father and daughter had been re-united, and whereas they had been relieved, they may by no means be the identical – particularly Salma.
And Salma is just not the one one.
Around 4.6 million youngsters had been residing within the 10 Turkish provinces hit by the earthquake, in line with UNICEF, and a further 2.5 million youngsters had been affected in neighboring Syria.
UNICEF added that households with youngsters are sleeping within the streets, malls, colleges, mosques, bus stations and underneath bridges, all afraid to sleep indoors ought to extra aftershocks deliver buildings down.
“I saw a lot of traumatized kids in Antakya,” stated 37-year-old Bilal Kazak, a Kazakhstan-born Turkish citizen who misplaced his mom and sister within the earthquake.
While meals, tents and caravans with some heating have arrived within the days following the earthquake, says Kazak, there nonetheless isn’t sufficient psychological well being help, particularly for kids.
Speaking to Mahaz News’s Zain Asher, a spokesperson for Save the Children reduction group in Turkey, Oben Coban, stated that victims are displaying clear indicators of post-traumatic stress dysfunction (PTSD), particularly youngsters, lots of whom have been left with out dad and mom.
“What we are also seeing is that those children who have lost their education, their families, their hopes, they are now struggling to find a reason to keep themselves in this world,” stated Coban.
“At the moment, the only thing that can keep them in their lives is hope for the future.”
For victims in Syria, the earthquake is one other disaster amid a devastating 12-year civil conflict.
Children and households who had been recovering from PTSD and ongoing trauma from the scars of conflict are again in survival mode, Dr. Alexandra Chen, a trauma psychologist treating earthquake victims, advised Mahaz News.
“For people who have slowly begun to recover and regain a sense of normalcy and rebuilt their lives over the last decade, this has been terrifying and destabilizing for both children and adults,” stated Chen. “Some are still in denial while others are experiencing hallucinations.”
The United Nations estimates over 30,000 lives have been misplaced within the Syrian civil conflict. People had been already struggling to rebuild their lives, whereas hundreds fled the nation looking for refuge in close by international locations.
While a semblance of routine had been established earlier than, Chen says the scenario has now modified.
“Prior to the earthquake, therapy was not emergency-based, and we had the time and the space to process very difficult things, especially for those who have experienced torture and sexual violence,” she stated, including that “we’re back in emergency mode.”
Chen says that support employees are additionally struggling. Between dropping their very own members of the family and houses, whereas rescuing folks from the rubble, their psychological well being has deteriorated amid the continuing rescue efforts, she stated.
Aid employees say that the psychological well being struggles are clear and are taking place amid wants for extra meals and shelter.
Making issues worse, the dangers of additional tremors haven’t gone away.
“Many people do not feel comfortable living inside (intact buildings),” stated Arlan Fuller, director of Emergency Response & Preparedness at Project Hope, a US-based non-profit, non-governmental group that helps healthcare employees in occasions of disaster. Fuller and Project Hope are at present on the bottom in Gaziantep.
“I’ve heard and seen many situations where people do not want to go back inside,” Fuller advised Mahaz News, “Or when they are inside, they are constantly focusing on the chandelier, waiting for it to move.”
Many youngsters are clinging to their dad and mom and might’t let go, he added, noting that repeated aftershocks solely act as triggers.
Aftershocks proceed to be felt throughout Turkey. Just on Monday, a magnitude 6.3 aftershock struck Turkey’s southern Hatay province, close to the Syrian border, killing no less than six folks and injuring tons of.
The Turkish Red Crescent beforehand stated it’s offering “psychological first aid” to each adults and youngsters impacted by the earthquake, reported the state news company Anadolu. These embody remedy periods, in addition to psychosocial help tents arrange by the ministry of household and the ministry of well being, added Anadolu.
Salma, 15, stays distraught. She spends most of her time on her cellphone and refuses to correctly eat, her father Samer says.
“She wants to buy those little hot wheels car toys that Hammoudeh (her brother Mohammed’s nickname) loved to put them on her shelf to look at them and remember him,” stated Sharif.
“I keep trying to make her laugh, but it’s not like before.”
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly voted to sentence Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. While the decision isn’t binding, it sheds gentle on the place nations stand on this battle one yr because it began.
Among Middle East and Arab nations, solely Syria rejected the decision whereas Algeria, Iran and Sudan abstained. The relaxation supported it.
Last yr, lower than per week after Russia’s invasion, the identical UN physique handed a decision demanding that Russia withdraw all navy forces from Ukraine. During that vote, all Arab and Middle Eastern states voted the identical approach they did on Thursday aside from Iraq, which abstained.
The area has largely made clear that it helps Ukraine’s place on this battle – publicly no less than.
The behind-the-scenes diplomacy over the previous yr, nonetheless, tells a unique story. Middle East nations have discovered themselves in a tough place, juggling between their obligations to their Western allies and their very own pursuits.
The United Arab Emirates, for instance, abstained from a symbolic a UN Security Council decision condemning the conflict on February 27 of final yr (Russia vetoed that decision). Less than per week later, it voted in favor of the same decision on the General Assembly. UAE officers have stated the conflict demonstrates that the world order is now not unipolar with the US at its helm. The UAE has additionally develop into a protected haven for a lot of Russian residents and companies for the reason that conflict.
Abu Dhabi, together with Saudi Arabia, additionally counts Russia as an ally within the OPEC+ oil cartel. That alliance permits member states to regulate the availability of oil, which in flip determines costs. The US warned Saudi Arabia final yr that limiting the availability of oil could be tantamount to supporting Russia within the conflict. That warning fell on deaf ears.
Iran, like Syria, is globally remoted and counts Russia as its predominant worldwide ally. But the Islamic Republic, whose leaders often launch tirades in opposition to international intervention and imperialism, has abstained from such votes as an alternative of vetoing them as Syria has. This is regardless of Tehran’s function as a participant within the conflict via its provide of killer drones to Russia.
Israel, too, finds itself in an advanced scenario. While it has publicly opposed the conflict, it has financial, cultural, political and safety issues in its dealings with Russia. What it cares most about with Russia is its affect on Iran and its presence in Syria. Israel often carries out airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria, which it regards as important to forestall the switch of missile know-how to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. It normally communicates with the Russians forward of these strikes for deconfliction functions.
By Abbas Al Lawati
Turkey says might expertise extra aftershocks higher than magnitude 5
Orhan Tatar, Turkey’s basic director of Earthquake and Risk Reduction (AFAD) stated on Thursday at a press convention that the nation might expertise extra giant aftershocks within the coming days, calling on residents to steer clear of broken buildings. Following the convention, a magnitude 5 aftershock struck the southern Hatay province.
- Background: Since the primary 7.8 quake on February 6, authorities have registered 7,442 aftershocks AFAD stated on Tuesday. Forty-one of them had been between 5 and 6 magnitude and 450 of them had been between 4 and 5 magnitude.
- Why it issues: Aftershocks have been frequent and lethal, have sophisticated restoration operations and rebuilding efforts and have prevented survivors from returning indoors.
Tunisian president denies racism however repeats view that migration is a plot
Tunisian President Kais Saied has repeated his assertion that a rise of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa was a part of a conspiracy to vary Tunisia’s demographics and denied criticism by rights teams that his views had been racist, Reuters reported.
- Background: Saied on Tuesday ordered safety forces to halt all unlawful immigration into Tunisia and stated any undocumented migrants should go away, feedback that prompted some sturdy criticism. Speaking to Interior Minister Tawfiq Charfeddine in a video posted on-line, Saied stated his opponents had twisted his feedback with a view to unfold discord. Rights teams have accused Saied of racism and introduced plans to protest.
- Why it issues: Tunisia is a serious departure level for migrants looking for to cross the Mediterranean and over the previous yr there was an enormous enhance within the variety of Tunisians and different Africans making an attempt to achieve Europe.
Oman opens airspace to Israeli airways in landmark transfer
The Gulf state of Oman has opened its airspace to Israeli airways in a landmark transfer that may minimize the carriers’ flights from Israel to Asia by as much as two hours. The nation’s civil aviation authority stated on Twitter that its “airspace is open for all carriers that meet the requirements of the authority for overflying.” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen tweeted that it was “another great step toward regional integration” and “a day of celebration for Israel.”
- Background: The transfer follows Saudi Arabia’s determination in July to open its personal airspace to Israeli carriers in a deal brokered by the United States. The Israeli international ministry stated on Thursday that the aviation announcement got here after months of talks with Omani authorities.
- Why it issues: Israel wanted Oman’s approval to make use of the shorter hall to Asia. The transfer is a diplomatic victory for the Netanyahu authorities, which has made normalization with Arab nations a high precedence. Oman has no diplomatic relations with Israel and normalization is a controversial subject on account of Israeli-Palestinian battle. In December, the Gulf state’s elected Shura Council proposed tightening an Israel boycott legislation.
The US has repatriated 77 looted artifacts to Yemen, together with dozens of historical funerary stones linked to a disgraced New York artwork supplier and 11 folios from early Qurans.
But as a part of a landmark settlement the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC will look after and retailer the objects for no less than two years as Yemen stays engulfed in a bitter civil conflict.
Among the artifacts being returned are 65 funerary stones, referred to as “stelae,” that date again to the second half of the primary millennium BC. Featuring engraved faces, a few of the objects include traces of pigment or inscriptions revealing the names of the deceased.
A museum spokesperson advised Mahaz News that the stones had been most probably looted from archaeological websites in northwestern Yemen. The Quranic folios are in the meantime thought thus far again to the ninth century. An inscribed bronze bowl can be among the many cache of artifacts.
The partnership between the Smithsonian and Yemen’s authorities was introduced at a repatriation ceremony hosted by the nation’s embassy in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. As a part of the settlement, a few of the objects might be publicly exhibited on the museum, together with in its present present “Ancient Yemen: Incense, Art, and Trade.” Yemen’s authorities may have the choice to increase the partnership after two years, relying on the state of unrest within the nation.
The nation’s ambassador to the United States, Mohammed Al-Hadhrami, stated in a press release that “on behalf of the people and Government of Yemen, we are thrilled to see Yemen retaking ownership of its cultural heritage.”
Read extra concerning the artifacts right here.
Source web site: www.cnn.com
