“Watching these events unfold from afar must be unimaginably difficult. We are thinking of you, aroha nui.”
National Party foreign affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee said the scale of losses and damage seen evoked in those who directly experienced the Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes a “strong empathy for the suffering of so many people who are mourning the loss of what is sure to be near 40,000 people and who are trying to patch up their lives and see a future ahead of them”.
“We have at least some understanding of what they are going through, albeit on a much greater scale. We recognise the agony of distance that will be playing on the minds of Turkish and Syrian New Zealanders.”
Green Party co-leader James Shaw said there had been a “tragic and shocking loss of life” and he urged the Government to step up its response to the huge refugee crisis the disaster had generated.
“We ask that the response include the resettlement of victims, support for people in New Zealand whose families have been affected, the extension of visas of people from Türkiye and Syria onshore and an expanded refugee quota.
“We do acknowledge the humanitarian relief already provided by the Government and we would urge continued commitment beyond this.”
He said such humanitarian crises will be exacerbated by the effects of the climate crisis, and urged a “compassionate and urgent approach among all countries committed to human rights must begin now in response to this disaster”.
Act Party deputy leader Brooke Van Velden said their thoughts were with the people of Türkiye and Syria and those here with connections to them.
She said it was “hard to grasp” the enormity of the disaster affecting millions, many already vulnerable from the impacts of war.
“In Syria alone, some 5.3 million people may have been left homeless because of the earthquakes. That is more than our entire population, and it is truly hard to grasp that number.”
She said New Zealand needed to continue to play its part in global aid efforts.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said they sent aroha to the people of Syria and Türkiye and urged New Zealand to rise above “racist and imperialist attitudes” in its response to the crises.
“People who have lived under the oppression of imperialism and civil war are now living through one of the deadliest humanitarian disasters that the world has ever seen.
“Now is the time for Aotearoa to lead by example: to transcend politics and pledge all the support we can afford to rebuild and help erase and ease the mamae of the people of Syria and Türkiye.”
New Zealand has committed $4.5 million so far, towards the response on the ground in Türkiye and Syria.
This includes $1.5m to support the Turkish Red Crescent and Syrian Arab Red Crescent, $2m to be delivered through the World Food Programme in Türkiye, and $1m to support the UNICEF response in Syria.
Two foreign emergency New Zealand specialists are also providing remote support to the search and rescue efforts as part of a connected global team.
