Clothes, moving boxes and black rubbish bags are strewn across the floor in Førde Islamic Centre. – We are betting that it will be cleaned up for the Friday prayer, smiles Auad Mawloud, who is the spokesperson for the Sunnfjord mosque. In the last few days, he and the rest of the congregation have worked 12-hour shifts to sort and pack clothes and other necessary items that will go down to the earthquake victims. In the tiny room in the center of Førde, faith, prayer and work come together in a higher unity. – God put us to the test, says Auad. – Now it is up to us to answer his call. Today, the official figures show that 36,000 have died after the earthquake. On Saturday, the UN’s emergency aid chief, Martin Griffith, said he expects the number to double. Four-year-old girl rescued from the ruins But in the midst of the disaster, there are also small glimmers of hope. On Tuesday, Turkish news media reported that a 17-year-old boy named Muhammet and an unidentified man were to be rescued from a collapsed block of flats. They both have doctors under the building masses for 198 hours. On Monday, three children and one adult were rescued from the rock masses. New estimates from the Syrian Red Crescent show that over 300,000 have lost their homes and are living in makeshift shelters or on the open street in sub-zero temperatures. In a spontaneous action, several Norwegian mosques have therefore been “converted” into rescue centres, where people collect, sort and load boxes into trailers. In western Norway, the mosque in Bergen is the “hub” for the smaller mosques in Førde and elsewhere. Turkish Airlines has offered to fly Lassa down to Turkey for free. – We held the site yesterday, for 24 hours without stopping, says Emre Karapinar, who is the leader of the Turkish mosque to Avisa Oslo. On Monday, Reuters announced that rescuers have pulled a four-year-old girl out of the ruins of a collapsed house in the Adiyman province in Turkey. The armed forces will help with the transport of emergency aid The government announced last week that Norway is giving NOK 150 million in support to Turkey and Syria after the earthquake. The money mainly goes through humanitarian organisations. In addition, this year Norway is giving NOK 500 million to the UN’s emergency aid fund (CERF) and the emergency aid fund to the Red Cross Federation (DREF). On Saturday, the Norwegian Armed Forces sent a Hercules transport plane to Turkey to help with the medical evacuation of injured persons and the transport of emergency aid. – It is a battle against the clock and the situation is time-critical in the winter cold, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap). Photo: Rodrigo Freitas / NTB USA eases sanctions The Western sanctions against Syria delayed the emergency aid to the Syrian earthquake victims by several days, but on Thursday the USA announced that they are easing the sanctions for 180 days. And this week, Syrian authorities agreed with the UN to open two new border crossings on the Turkish border for aid workers for three months. – It is very urgent to bring in food, medical equipment and other supplies, and also provide shelter for millions of people who have been affected, says a statement from UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The Church’s emergency aid works in three of the cities that are among the hardest hit: Aleppo, Latakia and Hama. On Friday, they announced that they are stepping up the disaster response. – So far we have only seen the contours of the size and scope of the earthquake disaster, says Church Aid’s country director in Syria, Benedicte Næss Hafskjold.
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Norwegian mosques mobilize to help earthquake victims – news Vestland
