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       In the days after two deadly earthquakes hit south eastern Turkey and northern Syria, most people online have been searching for the latter over the former. According to Google Trends data, only two countries -- Norway and Poland -- have had more searches for Syria, compared with Turkey.

       Syria has been in the throes of a deadly civil war for nearly 11 years and much of the area most-heavily impacted by the earthquakes is not under government control. Millions of internally-displaced people have been sheltering there and getting enough help to them was already a challenge.

       "You'd have done well to pick a worse place to be affected by an earthquake of this magnitude", says Mark Kaye, from the International Rescue Committee.

       "Some of the people that we work with in northwestern Syria have been displaced more than 20 times over the last 12 years."

       Huge cholera outbreak feared

       Millions in northern Syria live in camps for internally-displaced persons. Tents have generally not been affected, but other key facilities have fared poorly.

       "The camps are terrible. It's rained, so there's a lot of mud", says World Vision Syria Response Director, Johan Mooij, who has workers on the ground with internally displaced people.

       "One of our fears now is that if there's no good drinking water, cholera will explode. Basic services are down. It is a terrible situation indeed."

       Civil defence workers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, 6 February Ghaith Alsayed/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved

       While some aid agencies are already based in the region, many of their workers, like the rest of the local population, have been left in dire straits. And that is hindering the response on the ground.

       "Many of our staff simply don't have anywhere to sleep", Kaye says. "[They] are spending the night sleeping on the floors of schools, in mosques, in sports halls or even in their cars. Even having our own office at the moment is proving difficult because some of our field offices have been quite severely damaged by the earthquake itself".

       Difficulties crossing into Syria

       In southern Turkey, rescuers and aid efforts have been hampered by the destruction. Roads have been destroyed, along with other crucial infrastructure. In northern Syria, agencies face an additional problem, however -- the border itself.

       Small amounts of aid are going through Damascus, like this package sent by the UAE. However due to regime control, most western aid is sent through southern Turkey. AP/AP

       As a result of the ongoing civil war, Syria's northwest is divided between government, rebel and Turkish control. Before the earthquakes, most humanitarian aid entered the area from Turkey. However, restrictions on what can -- and cannot -- come in, as well as a lack of overall capacity, mean not enough material is getting through.

       While the epicentres of the two earthquakes were in Turkey, much of north-western Syria was affected too. It's an area with extremely divided political control Euronews

       "The entire area is largely reliant on one border crossing point from Turkey for UN aid assistance that wasn't already sufficient", says Mark Kaye.

       While some aid has been requested by and sent to the Syrian government, it remains a small portion of what is currently needed. And there is no communication between the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebel factions. What's more, diplomatic relations between most Western governments and Damascus, are non existent.

       As Xavier Castellanos from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies notes, "limitations that we can face around sanctions do affect the speed [at which] we can intervene."

       "[They] affect the capacity to allocate financial resources, to enter and to operate... it will require more flexibility."

       "The earthquake doesn't recognise borders.

       "Most of the resources in funding, search and rescue teams, at the moment seems to be heading towards southern Turkey where there are significant needs, but we need to make sure that Syria isn't forgotten. The earthquake doesn't recognise borders."

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       The Turkish city of Antakya is one of the worst hit places after Monday's earthquake. Dozens of buildings have collapsed in the region.

       In less than two minutes in the early hours of Monday morning, the lives of almost 400,000 inhabitants of this city on the border with Syria changed forever, as the ground shook and buildings collapsed around them in the biggest earthquake to hit this part of Turkey in decades.

       At every turn in Antakya, Euronews' Maria Mois reports, you see piles of debris and rubble, and under the concrete and stone lie countless bodies.

       Reluctantly, firefighters give the order that search and rescue efforts should now turn to grim recovery.

       It's not clear how many bodies might still be trapped under Antakya's ruins, but emergency workers, volunteers and family members will try to ensure everyone is found.

       Turkey-Syria earthquakes: Why was there so much destruction? Syria struggles to cope with earthquake, as Assad demands aid flows through his regime Aid pours into quake-hit Turkey, Syria as death toll soars past 20,700

       Nationwide, officials say more than 21,000 people have now been reported dead so far. The 7.8 magnitude tremor has impacted more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, and Gaziantep.

       Several countries neighbouring Turkey, such as Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck in the space of fewer than 10 hours.

       Turkey has also declared seven days of national mourning after the devastating quakes.

       Behind each casualty figure lies a tragedy. But rescue workers are still working tirelessly to retrieve both the dead and the living, even as hope for survivors fades.

       But there are moments of joy: a family in Antakya was saved after being trapped under rubble for 96 hours, Turkish media reports.

       The earthquake and its aftershocks hit Turkey’s Hatay province the hardest, particularly, Antakya, its provincial capital, where more than 1,000 buildings are reported to have collapsed.

       Survivors in the city, which was home to almost 400,000 people, say more than half the buildings were reduced to rubble.

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       “You go to bed and you’re afraid, you wake up and you pray,” explains Olga, a 57-year-old woman from Mykolaiv in Ukraine.

       She is not only battling a devastating war in her country but a cancer diagnosis that she believes has been exacerbated by “the stress, the nerves and the cold”.

       Like millions of others inside Ukraine, she has been worried about making it through the winter months, during which temperatures might drop well below freezing.

       “We pray to God that there is electricity and gas, that everything is over as soon as possible,” she says.

       While news about global leaders visiting Kyiv and military developments in Ukraine regularly make the headlines, everyday stories of pending humanitarian needs like Olga’s are too often pushed into the margins.

       Yet while we rarely hear these voices, many people — including close to six million who have been forced from their homes — remain inside Ukraine in dire conditions, as the ongoing violence and freezing conditions compound their suffering.

       Despite spring on the horizon, the suffering is far from over

       Over the last few months, waves of shelling targeting civilian infrastructure have knocked out power across major cities in Ukraine, including Kyiv and Kharkiv.

       Vast parts of the country have been plunged into darkness, with water supplies and heating systems disrupted.

       According to an IRC needs assessment conducted in November, 25% of internally displaced people interviewed did not have access to adequate heating, and more than 60% reported their houses were damaged, making it even harder to keep safe and warm and forcing many into collective shelters.

       What we see inside the country is that wintry conditions are amplifying the challenging humanitarian situation in Ukraine and sparking yet more displacement and increasing needs amongst those who stay.

       People stand amid a blackout after a Russian rocket attack in Kyiv, 23 November 2022 AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko

       At the same time, the lack of functioning phone networks and internet access has made it even harder for the IRC’s teams to communicate with local partners, suppliers and clients who are already often difficult to reach due to the volatile security situation and other physical access constraints, creating even more barriers to delivering aid to the people who need it most.

       With spring on the horizon, many will be hoping for less painful months ahead. Yet, even if the weather improves, the sky-high level of existing needs will not magically disappear.

       Shelling looks set to continue, houses and infrastructure will still be damaged, and the land contaminated with mines will take decades to be cleaned.

       Moreover, amidst warnings of a likely escalation of the war around the one-year mark in late February, it’s clear that Ukraine is fraught with dangers, and serious protection risks remain.

       While the situation is harrowing, robust international support has prevented the worst-case scenario from occurring in Ukraine.

       However, that will only remain the case so long as the international community continues to adequately support the humanitarian response both within the country and beyond.

       Protecting civilians must remain number one priority

       First of all, civilians and civilian infrastructure must never be a target.

       The IRC, in tandem with the humanitarian community, is calling for European leaders to continue urging parties to the international armed conflict to uphold International Humanitarian Law and prioritise protecting civilians.

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       Attacks against civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, must be systematically condemned and those responsible held accountable.

       Firefighters work after a drone attack on buildings in Kyiv, 17 October 2022 AP Photo/Roman Hrytsyna

       Secondly, donors must continue and significantly ramp up financial support, ensuring that this is flexible enough to adapt to the rapidly changing context and shifting needs in Ukraine.

       This must include funding for protection programming which was only 63% covered in 2022, and cash assistance to help families meet their basic needs, including food, shelter and warmth.

       The funding needs to directly reach the NGOs, local civil society groups and women-led organisations who are working on the frontline of the Ukraine response.

       Importantly, it must not come at the expense of other crises across the globe, many of which have spiralled further as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

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       EU member states should do better than rolling back support

       And finally, more than 80% of people forced to leave their homes in Ukraine hope to return one day.

       However, even in parts of the country no longer experiencing active hostilities, there is widespread mine contamination, severe infrastructure damage, and the ongoing risk of airstrikes.

       People should not be pushed to return until they feel they are safe to do so. Instead, everyone must be empowered to make informed and voluntary choices about their future.

       As the war approaches its second year and supporter fatigue begins to set in, it’s worrying to see governments in some EU states begin to roll back support for people from Ukraine, including new rules in Poland requiring some Ukrainian refugees to cover up to 75% of their accommodation costs.

       Ukrainian volunteer Oleksandr Osetynskyi directs hundreds of refugees after fleeing the war and arriving at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, March 2022 AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu

       We’re calling on EU leaders to double down on their efforts to protect the 8 million people forced from Ukraine by investing in reception capacity, meeting urgent needs, and providing early integration support to empower people to rebuild their futures.

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       With no end to the war in sight and yet another possible escalation likely in the months ahead, the people of Ukraine are relying on EU leaders for support as much as ever.

       As officials meet next week to discuss humanitarian aid in the country, it’s critical they keep up the momentum to protect the millions like Olga, in Ukraine and beyond.

       Michael Despines is International Rescue Committee's Regional Director for Ukraine response. He has spent over three decades working in different humanitarian settings around the world, previously in Asia and Africa.

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