SEPANG, April 24 — A humanitarian mission, initiated by the Melaka government in collaboration with two non-governmental organisations (NGOs), namely the Briged Negaraku and the Malaysian Youth Volunteer Community, is being mobilised to Turkiye today.
The mission involves nine participants, led by state Rural Development and Food Security Committee chairman, Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh, and will depart to Turkiye tonight via Etihad Airways from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
Speaking to reporters at KLIA today, Dr Muhamad Akmal said the state government has set up a humanitarian fund to help earthquake victims in Turkiye and Syria, and has managed to collect almost RM400,000 as of March 30.
“At the disaster area (in Turkiye), we will cooperate with IHH Insani Yardim Vakfi, a Turkiye NGO, to provide temporary cabins for the earthquake victims.
“We have nine modified cabins and will hand them over later. For the Syrian victims, we will donate food boxes and cash,” he said.
Dr Muhamad Akmal, who is also UMNO Youth chief, said in addition to cabin and food assistance, the mission will also provide medical assistance, including child psychiatric services.
However, he said that it is very likely that the mission will face difficulties due to the unrest in Syria, but he will try to deliver all donations as planned.
“Please pray that we will succeed in entering Syria, because this is one of the most difficult tasks. Most likely we will not be allowed to enter in large numbers and perhaps only in pairs,” he said.
All the humanitarian mission participants are expected to return to Malaysia on April 30.
Malaysia was among the earliest countries to assist Turkiye in the search and rescue (SAR) efforts, after the earthquakes on Feb 6 killed more than 50,000 people in the country and prompted international solidarity.
The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes in southern Turkiye struck 11 provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.
Around 14 million people in Turkiye have been affected by the quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.
