Going from bad to worse? Well-being of Syrian refugees in Turkey in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquakes

Abstract

"The series of earthquakes that shook South-East Turkey in February 2023 brought physical destruction to the region and affected an entire country. The data presented here illustrates how destruction, health risks and economic hardship are severely threatening the well-being of both host and Syrian communities in the earthquake region. Although the tremors of an earthquake do not adhere to the fault lines of social stratification, the impacts of such a natural disaster are nonetheless experienced differently by people, depending on their position in society. The pattern described in this contribution implies that Syrians who had sought refuge in Turkey because of the war in Syria were particularly vulnerable to the consequences of the natural disaster. We suggest that this disproportionally large effect is a result of three fundamental drivers. First, the social and economic disadvantages Syrians faced in Turkey prior to the earthquake resulted in living and housing conditions that made them particularly vulnerable to the destructive force of the earthquakes. Second, because of these pre-existing disadvantages, Syrians are more likely to lack resources such as financial assets and social security to cope with the consequences merging after the initial destruction. Third, rather than receiving the social and economic support that could help compensate for these two drivers of vulnerability, discrimination and exclusionary practices in aid provision pushed some Syrians into a state of vigilance and invisibility (Sevinin et al., 2023) that amplified the effects of the earthquakes. Further data and research are needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying the experience of the Syrian population after the earthquakes. Future public responses to natural disasters, in Turkey and beyond, need to take social stratifications into account and ensure that the more vulnerable groups, i.e., those more exposed to the forces of nature and equipped with fewer resources to cope with its aftermath, receive the support they need. Such responses should counteract social divisions that tend to emerge in the face of adversity and resource scarcity. If the disaster response instead reinforces social divisions in the distribution of resources, the situation of relatively disadvantaged groups, such as the refugee population in Turkey, can easily go from bad to worse." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Ruhnke, S., Hertner, L., Gundacker, L. & Wagner, S. (2024): Going from bad to worse? Well-being of Syrian refugees in Turkey in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquakes. (BIM News Series / Berliner Institut für empirische Integrations- und Migrationsforschung 1), Berlin, 18 p. DOI:10.18452/28152