Additional Swedish support for those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria

The earthquakes that have struck Türkiye and Syria have caused enormous devastation. The Swedish Government and agencies are currently working to support those affected in both countries, help save lives and support the earthquake victims.

Sweden is one of the world’s largest humanitarian donors, not least to Syria. Sweden also provides generous core funding to the United Nations and the IFRC. This core funding is critical to ensuring that humanitarian organisations quickly have the capacity and preparedness to immediately provide assistance without having to wait for needs assessments, emergency appeals or additional donor contributions.

On Friday 10 February, the Government announced a further EUR 6.8 million in support to Syria. The funds will be directed to UN agencies, the Swedish Red Cross and Islamic Relief Sweden. The support will contribute to the provision of fuel, food distribution, emergency shelter, health care and ambulances.

On Sunday 12 February, a transport aircraft organised by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency landed in Türkiye with family tents for the affected areas.

The above support is in addition to the immediate support previously announced by the Government:

• On 6 February, the Government pledged approximately EUR 600 000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) as part of the response efforts in Türkiye and Syria.  
• On 7 February, the Government pledged approximately EUR 1.8 million to the IFRC and approximately EUR 895 000 to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). CERF can quickly allocate funds to the UN agencies responding to the crisis in both countries.
• On 9 February, Sweden sent a search and rescue team comprising 45 personnel with search dogs to Türkiye.

To date, Sweden has contributed approximately EUR 10.1 million in support for those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

Sweden will continue to support the earthquake response in both Türkiye and Syria. The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission have taken the initiative to organise a Donor Conference for those affected by the earthquakes. The Conference will be organised in coordination with the Turkish authorities.