مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - The Effect of 2011 Van Earthquake on The Lıves of Asylum Seekers in The Cıty

Abstract :

The October 23 and 9 November 2011 earthquake that occurred in Van and Erciş not only affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people but also the living conditions of asylum seekers in the city were deeply impacted. After the earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.2 and 5.6 in the province 644 people died, 283 people survived the wreck; about 28 thousand houses became uninhabitable. Because of the devastation and horror caused by the earthquake, thousands abandoned their habitable settings in a short time due to fear of earthquake in Van; people were forced to migrate to other provinces. One of the most affected social sections in the city affectef by the earthquake in Van has been Afghanistan and Iranian asylum seekers who were waiting to be resettled to third countries. Their number approximated to 1,700 before the earthquake, then with the occurrence of the earthquake and the emigration of the population of the city this number was reduced to 400 people. Some of the asylum seekers who had no homes or whose homes were earthquake-damaged were in miserable conditions for days stayed out all night (in open space) and were forced to live out-doors.Those who could not go to another city in the subsequent weeks, or did not want to go, that is to say, the majority of asylum seekers, were forced to live in their damaged buildings or tents distributed by the relief agencies. In this study, pre- and post-earthquake challenges faced by refugees and earthquake processes which deteriorated the living conditions in the city have been investigated.In order to determine the impact of the earthquake on refugees, asylum seekers, the investigation was partly based on surveys and interviews made after the earthquake in the city. The study partly dwelled upon survey and observation findings obtained from various other studies in literature using information technology and various other methodologies for interpretational analysis.