People in UK have been accused of sending ‘trash’ to Turkey-Syria earthquake. Image courtesy: @iremxyd/Twitter
Donors from UK are sending “trash” to Turkey and Syria, claim earthquake survivors. The shocking revelation came after it was found that around 20 per cent of the donations were not fit to use.
Survivors have posted pictures and videos on social media platforms showing used lingerie, sequinned tops, stained items and even 10-inch high-heels in a box of donated items.
A comment under one such video says, “Clothing collection drop-offs are not a place where you can empty your trash. Those people also have pride. Does your conscience not hurt at all? It is enough for God’s sake. Please, enough.”
The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquake has crossed 46,000 and the toll is expected to soar in the coming days as around three lakh apartments have been reduced to rubble following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the region on 6 February.
Now, the government of Turkey has announced that search and rescue operations have ended in most provinces of the country.
Donations received are inappropriate and unusable
The CEO of London-based Turkish Cypriot Community Association, Erim Metto, confirmed that a fifth instalment of donations that they have received from UK are “inappropriate” and “unusable”.
“We were very clear about what donations we would accept. We did say we would not accept any inappropriate clothing. For example, no thin-layer clothing, dresses or high heels,” Metto told Metro.
He also mentioned that donations go through a two-step cycling system where “second-hand” and no-good-for-anything” items are discarded. He said, “Our volunteers filter these through and they are discarded — for example, hygiene products that are only half-full and have been used.”
“Once we get through that first stage, anything that is again not appropriate for the location we are gathering donations for, but is still usable, we would package separately and give to Trade,” he explained.
‘Retracted appeal for donations’
Metto, however, said that donations for the Turkey-Syria earthquake are far higher than in the past.
For instance, the day the earthquake struck, the organisation received as many as 240 phone calls from people willing to help.
The CEO said, “We have done a lot of donation schemes in the past to help the homeless, people in Ukraine and we supported the community during Covid.”
“But this time the donations were far higher than we expected. By Wednesday, we had already retracted our appeal for donations,” he added.
Metto also said that around 20 per cent of the items the organisation received were inappropriate and that they didn’t send any of them.
“But we are still sending items. For example, we just made two shipments of camping tents. That is how we are working,” he added.
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