As Syria marks 12 years of conflict, the impact of the earthquakes that struck parts of Syria and Türkiye on 6 February is pushing communities in northwest Syria to the brink and the healthcare system to its limits. 

After the initial earthquakes that struck south Türkiye and northwest Syria, the region has registered hundreds of aftershocks, adding to the death toll, material damage and trauma of the survivors.

One month on, the search and rescue phase is over. While the dust has settled among the rubble, the needs remain acute.

A Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) convoy of 14 trucks entered northwest Syria today, arriving from Türkiye through the Hammam border crossing point. 

In Northwest Syria, a largely landlocked region, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams present on the ground have deployed an emergency plan in response to the earthquakes that hit on 6 February. The objective: to support hospitals and provide medical and material aid to populations, by mobilizing a large part of the 500 members of its staff active in the country.

According to the latest estimates, the earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria have killed more than 28,000 people and injured tens of thousands more. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works with affected populations in northwestern Syria with nearly 500 staff members.

The earthquakes that struck south Türkiye and northwest Syria on 6 February have wrought devastation, resulting in a shocking number of deaths and injuries, and causing untold damage to infrastructure in both countries. 

Following the powerful earthquakes that hit the south of Türkiye (formally Turkey) and northwest Syria on 6 February, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has mobilised its team along with local partners to respond to the increasing needs in the area.

Al-Hol was once a humanitarian camp, designed to provide safe, temporary accommodation and humanitarian services to people displaced by the conflict in Syria and Iraq. However, the nature of the camp has long deviated from this purpose and it has grown increasingly into an unsafe open-air prison. 
 

A new report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) lays bare the cruelty of the long-term detainment of more than 50,000 people, the majority of whom are children, in Al-Hol, northeast Syria.

Since September 2022, parts of Syria including north-east Syria and north-west Syria have been facing a major cholera outbreak. First linked to the contaminated water near the Euphrates River and the severe water shortage in the north of Syria, the outbreak has now spread across the country, and more than 13,000 suspected cases have been reported, including 60 deaths.

According to Raqqa National Hospital, this is the first time cholera has been confirmed in NES since 2007.