Turkish demand for fast-track visas to Switzerland on the rise

The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has now risen to 41,000. Many people also lost their homes. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Switzerland has already received 1,500 requests for visas under an accelerated visa process for earthquake refugees, RTS reportsExternal link on Friday.

These are aimed mainly at Turkish citizens who lost their homes in the massive earthquakes that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6. Switzerland has agreed to issue them with visas for up to 90 days, under certain conditions.

They need to have a passport and close family already in the Alpine country. If they have lost their passport in the earthquake, they need an emergency provisional one from the Turkish authorities.

+ Read how Switzerland is insisting earthquake refugees have passports

‘De-politicise humanitarian aid for Syria’

Meanwhile Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has called for de-politicisation of humanitarian aid to Syria and for financial support from the international community.

She stressed that the earthquake had hit a place where there was already “massive destruction of infrastructure and suffering of the people” because of the 12-year civil war in Syria. Most of the quake-hit regions are held by rebels.

“I hope that the ICRC will soon be able to access all Syrian territories. It is essential to de-politicise humanitarian aid,” Spoljaric, who visited north-eastern Syria just after the earthquake, told RTSExternal link on Friday.  Aid must come from all sides, she said. “We need access and especially financial support from the international community, because this crisis will continue.”

On Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad authorised the opening of two additional crossing points from Turkey into Syria for humanitarian aid. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says nearly 150 aid trucks have arrived this week in Syria from two crossing points in Turkey. OCHA told reporters in Geneva on Friday that it expected convoys to arrive “every day”.