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Editorial: UCLA has the capacity and duty to send more aid to Syria, Turkey

By Editorial Board

Feb. 19, 2023 3:33 p.m.

This post was updated Feb. 20 at 7:46 p.m.

Editor’s note: Editorials do not represent the views of the Daily Bruin as a whole. The board encourages readers to respond to our editorials at dailybruin.com/submit.

Once-populated cities flattened, leaving only ruins. Hastily dug ditches filled to the brim with mass burials. A newborn infant, still attached to her mother, pulled from the rubble, the lone survivor from their family.

In the early morning of Feb. 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey, right near the Syrian border. After approximately nine hours, it was followed by another quake of 7.5 magnitude. Since then, the region has experienced at least 120 aftershocks – and given the strength and size of the initial jolt, it is expected that the area will continue to experience aftershocks in the coming weeks, maybe even months.

The sheer scale of the destruction wrought by the earthquakes that struck along the Turkey-Syria border is almost unfathomable.

More than 43,000 people have lost their lives, and the toll only continues to rise.

This disaster has only added to the humanitarian crisis in the area. In Turkey, the harsh winter weather, decreased access to health care and damaged water infrastructure among other things have only emphasized the pressing need for aid. In Syria, aid efforts have been obstructed by the ongoing war, and certain areas have been harder to reach because of the isolation of rebel-held regions along the border.

In the aftermath, the world must stand together to provide support to the communities in Turkey and Syria that have been devastated by the earthquakes.

Twelve years of intense civil war in Syria have already destroyed much of the existing public infrastructure and spurred the flight of hundreds of thousands of refugees into the Turkish cities in the south that became the epicenter of the disaster. The woes facing this region must prompt a quick and effective response from the international community.

Providing aid to Syria in particular has still been complicated by the international sanctions implemented in response to the civil war.

On Feb. 10, Chancellor Gene Block issued a statement on the earthquakes, encouraging members of the UCLA community to donate in support of the Turkish and Syrian communities affected. According to the letter, the university is also providing resources for students from the affected regions.

Although these are important steps, the University of California system itself should additionally be contributing to these efforts.

Such a massive institution is certainly more capable of providing aid than any individual.

In 2010, following the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, UCLA Health organized donations of medical supplies and even sent a relief team to the island nation.

Given the horrific circumstances, UCLA needs to organize a similar program to support aid efforts in the region.

According to Los Angeles Magazine, the Stanford School of Medicine is donating medical supplies in the aftermath of the earthquake.

At least 80,000 people have been injured, many seriously. With the destruction of most of the region’s hospitals, shortages of medical supplies will have dire or even fatal consequences.

Of course, donations to governmental and nongovernmental organizations may not always be the most effective way of providing relief. In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, investigative reports on organizations such as the American Red Cross highlighted how shockingly little change was actually achieved on the ground in comparison to the enormous amounts of donations that rolled in.

But providing some aid is always better than doing nothing at all.

Distance is not a moral obstacle – all human beings on this planet are deserving of lives free from suffering and injustice.

UCLA needs to act in any way it possibly can because the need for aid in Turkey and Syria is too strong to brush aside.

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