In a region aflame, Turkey becomes the refuge for all

Turkey has become a refuge - and a huge field hospital - for increasing numbers of people fleeing their homelands, while continuing to send humanitarian aid to a number of conflict zones in the region.

According to the United Nations, two of the four countries in the world that are currently facing a “humanitarian catastrophe” are neighbors of Turkey: Iraq and Syria. Up to 30,000 people are still at immediate risk of “potential genocide” in the two countries, according to the U.N.

Crossborder aid

U.N. special representative Nickolay Mladenov announced on Aug. 14 that Iraq had been declared a “Level 3 Emergency” country to help trigger additional goods, funds and assets, in order to respond to the needs of tens of thousands of people displaced by the militants of the extremist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). More than 200,000 Iraqis are now displaced in northern Iraq.

AFAD, Turkey’s disaster agency, opened a tent city in Zakho, northern Iraq, on Aug. 14 to host Yazidis fleeing from the Sinjar region amid ongoing attacks by ISIL. Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay said the camp could host up to 5,000 refugees for now, but will soon be enlarged for the accommodation of 16,000 refugees.

Meanwhile, Turkey is continuing its operations to aid over 10,000 Turkmens fleeing from ISIL attacks in northern Iraq. The Turkish Red Crescent has so far sent 4,000,000 Turkish Liras worth of humanitarian aid to the region, while AFAD has delivered 109 truckloads of aid since last month.

A field hospital

Turkey has also become something of a field hospital amid the regional conflagration.

Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of the Iraqi Parliament, is still being...