“We all need dignity”: the exclusion of persons with disabilities in the Türkiye earthquake response

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Türkiye: People with disabilities left behind in the humanitarian response to the devastating earthquake

Persons with disabilities living in inadequate camp conditions

Health is at risk due to the lack of sanitation facilities and specialized support

The Turkish authorities and humanitarian actors must urgently ensure a comprehensive response

In a new report published today, Amnesty International said that people with disabilities living in displacement camps after devastating earthquakes in Turkey are being ignored in the humanitarian response to the disaster.

The report, ‘We All Need Dignity’: Exclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Turkey’s Earthquake Response, documents how people with disabilities now live in inadequate shelters, with their dignity and right to health undermined by the response of authorities and humanitarian actors. to disaster.

More than 50,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured – many of whom lost limbs and sustained other life-changing injuries – during the powerful earthquakes that struck Turkey in February 2023. An estimated 3.3 million people have been displaced, with approximately 2.3 million people currently sheltering in camps. tents and container settlements. Up to 70 percent of earthquake survivors are expected to have a disability, according to a joint assessment between the Turkish government and the United Nations.

“The enormous hardships faced by many in the aftermath of the earthquakes have been compounded for people with disabilities, who have been left behind in the humanitarian response,” said Matthew Wells, Deputy Director of Research in Crisis Response at Amnesty International.

A “one-size-fits-all approach” to emergency shelter arrangements excludes specific requirements for people with disabilities to live in dignity, and renders many of them unable to access relief on an equal basis.

“The Government of Turkey and humanitarian actors, including international donors, must take immediate action to ensure that the humanitarian response is inclusive of all survivors, including people with disabilities. Their needs must be met by providing much-needed specialized support.”

Amnesty International recognizes the scale and gravity of the humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquakes, but no matter the scale of the emergency, the rights of people with disabilities should be fully respected.

The brief is mainly based on visits to the following provinces in southern Turkey: Adiyaman, Gaziantep, Hatay and Kahramanmaras. Amnesty International researchers conducted a total of 131 interviews in March and April 2023 with earthquake survivors, documenting the experiences of 34 people with disabilities (10 women, 15 men and nine children). Interviewees included 19 people with various types of disabilities, 26 relatives of people with disabilities, and 13 aid workers involved in the response.

Inappropriate conditions in displacement

In all 21 sites visited by Amnesty International, access to community sanitation facilities was inaccessible for people with limited or no mobility, a broader pattern confirmed by aid workers. Unable to access toilets, many of them have become dependent on carers and on relief items such as adult diapers.

One woman, a 48-year-old Syrian refugee who had her left leg and part of her right foot amputated due to diabetes, said: “I cannot use shared toilets. My relatives have to help me move from the wheelchair to the toilet seat (toilet chair) and then they have to Emptying and cleaning the commode every time I use it… We all need a little privacy and dignity, but it’s very difficult in these circumstances.”

I can’t use the toilet. I can’t shower… I can’t eat well. I’m afraid if I eat here the way I did Before, I will need to [be carried] to the toilet.”

A 13-year-old girl who lost her right leg in the earthquake that also killed her mother spoke to Amnesty International about her experience. Forced to use diapers, she relies on her 18-year-old sister to change and clean them. Her sister said, “She can’t use the flint because it’s very unstable and if she fell it would be very dangerous for her amputation wound… Sometimes I feel like it’s a nightmare, but then I realize it’s real.”

This emergency response falls short of human rights obligations as well as the humanitarian principles of inclusiveness and non-discrimination. Almost every disabled person interviewed by Amnesty International – including elderly people with limited mobility – had to rely on relatives, as they were unable to collect food and other aid such as hygiene kits from distribution points.

The urgent need for specialized health services

Amnesty International has also documented a shortage of appropriate assistive devices – such as wheelchairs – and interruptions in specialized care, such as rehabilitation services.

Baher Ghazi, 58, who lives in a camp for the displaced in the city center of Antakya, said his two daughters, ages 22 and 32, with physical disabilities, visit the physical rehabilitation center twice a week, but the building collapsed during the earthquake. . No replacement has been provided yet.

The earthquakes caused massive interruptions in health services, including services for people with disabilities, due to the complete collapse or severe damage to facilities and the death, injury, and homelessness of staff.

Amnesty International also found that there is an urgent need to expand mental health and psychosocial support services to meet current and evolving needs.

Vadym Sytin, 51, a cancer patient, supports her husband, who has Alzheimer’s disease, and two children with disabilities. She told Amnesty International how her family was pulled from the rubble five days after the three-storey building collapsed in the city of Kahramanmaras, killing several family members.

Vadima said the safety of her 17-year-old son, who has a mental health condition, is a constant concern. She said, “Sometimes he grabs the headscarves of women… when he does these things, [people] beats and insults him,” and that he sometimes wanders into the street near the unofficial displacement site and sits in crowds. As a result, she feels compelled to tie one of the boy’s feet to a wooden platform outside their tent during the day to restrict his movement. She added, “Inside [our] House, we are not used to associating it. He was free at home.”

Melik, 35, lives with her three children and in-laws in a camp in Narli, outside the city of Kahramanmaras. She described how her five-year-old daughter had been showing signs of distress since the earthquake, including talking in her sleep. Malik said, “Sometimes when I wake her up to go to the toilet, the first thing she asks me is, ‘Is there an earthquake?'” “

A comprehensive humanitarian response is required

Turkey is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and as such the Turkish government is required to take measures to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities. .

The Government of Turkey and humanitarian actors must ensure that persons with disabilities and their caregivers receive appropriate support, including through facilitating access to sanitation facilities and improving aid delivery. This should also include the systematic collection and analysis of data disaggregated by age, gender and disability, which should be made available to humanitarian actors involved in emergency response to ensure adequate and effective needs-based service.

It is clear that there are fundamental failures in supporting people with disabilities in the aftermath of earthquakes. The effects of this humanitarian catastrophe will be felt for generations. “It is essential that people with disabilities have equal access to facilities and services,” said Nils Muzynieks, Director of Amnesty International’s Europe Regional Office.

“International donors must do more to support the humanitarian response in Turkey during this unprecedented crisis, and expand technical and financial assistance, including to immediately address the needs of people with disabilities.”

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