Identities of 81 children who survived quakes remain unknown, says ministry

Most of the children who were left without care after the earthquakes have been handed over to their families while some are still in hospitals or care centers.

İstanbul

Identities of 81 children who survived quakes remain unknown, says ministry

Photo: AA

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Among the 1,911 children left without care after last month's earthquakes in southeastern Türkiye, 1,543 have been handed over to their families, according to an official statement.

Eighty-one of the children could still not be identified while 95 were taken under care, the Ministry of Family and Social Services said on Twitter late yesterday (March 1).

The treatment of 273 children continues in hospitals, said the ministry.

Parliamentary committee

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Committee to Investigate Child Abuse yesterday held a session about children left without care after the earthquakes.

Representatives from several children's rights groups also attended the session, making recommendations to protect the children.

Prof. Oğuz Polat, head of the İmdat (Help) Association, mentioned the reported child abduction and abuse cases, calling on the authorities to take urgent action.

The authorities and security units should monitor the frequency of child abuse cases in tent camps, he said.

Prof. Kasım Karataş, head of the Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, noted that 27 percent of Türkiye's population is younger than 18, and the number of children who were displaced in such a short time after the earthquake was unprecedented.

"We have four million children affected by the earthquake. A committee to work on this should be established," he said.

The earthquakes

On February 6, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 struck the southern city of Maraş. The first quake in the Pazarcık district at 4.17 a.m. was followed by the second one in Elbistan about nine hours later.

The quakes affected 11 cities in Türkiye's south and southeast, as well as Syria's northern parts, where over 5,000 people have died.

Türkiye's death toll from the quakes stands at over 45,000 and is expected to increase further, as over 160,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, according to government figures.

Nearly two million people have been displaced due to the earthquakes.

(AEK/VK)