Syrian refugees return home after Turkey earthquake

Thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey are returning to rebel-held areas of their country after the February 6 earthquake that caused widespread devastation on both sides of the border.

Turkish authorities said refugees who entered north-west Syria would have the right to return for up to six months, prompting many Syrians to cross the border to check on relatives.

Officials gave no figures for the number of people entering at the Bab Hamam crossing into Idlib, but said 4,600 Syrians had passed through the Bab al Hawa crossing since Turkey announced the offer on Wednesday.

"I haven't seen my family for four years, as I live alone in Turkey," Youssef Qramo said after crossing into Syria's north-west Idlib region.

"The situation in Turkey is miserable in the areas where the earthquake hit," he told Reuters

Mr Qramo, who had been living in the city of Gaziantep, said people were staying in tents in the cold and rain. As well as the harsh winter weather, Syrians had faced hostility, he said.

Emirati rescuers search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building in Latakia, northwest of the Syrian capital, following the deadly earthquake. All photos: AFP

An Emirati rescuer, accompanied by a Syrian soldier, searches for survivors

Aftershocks following the February 6 earthquake have added to the death toll

The 7. 8-magnitude earthquake has caused widespread disruption in Syria

Emirati rescuers sift through the rubble

An Emirati rescuer, with the help of a dog, searches for survivors

Even before the earthquake, the 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey had encountered growing resentment from Turks struggling with a rising cost of living and sometimes blaming the influx from Syria for their economic woes.

In Gaziantep, Mr Qramo said police had moved Syrians out of a mosque where they were sheltering to make way for Turkish families. Several Turks in other quake-hit towns and cities have accused Syrians of robbing damaged shops and homes.

"The situation is very tough for Syrians," he said.

Mansour Hamoud, who was living in the Turkish port city of Iskenderun, said he had been sleeping in a park after his home was destroyed.

"I decided to come back and live in my country. Dead or alive, I prefer to be with my family," he said.

Around four million people live in north-west Syria under the control of armed rebels opposed to President Bashar Al Assad's government. The United Nations say most of them were dependent on aid even before the latest disaster.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake levelled thousands of building in Turkey and northern Syria, leaving millions homeless in freezing winter temperatures. The death toll had passed 38,000 in Turkey and 5,800 in Syria by Friday, 11 days after the earthquake. The disaster sparked a worldwide humanitarian response, although aid has been slower to reach Syria.

Anas Haj Qadro, who was in the badly affected Turkish city of Antakya when the earthquake struck, said he had decided to live with his family in Idlib until some normality returned.

With reporting from Reuters

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

How much of your income do you need to save?

The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.

In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)

Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.

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