Afghan refugees homeless after Turkey quake

VAN, Turkey, Oct 29, AFP

Afghan refugee Nergis Shovar washes dishes in muddy water in front of the tent that's been home since a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey last week. "My house collapsed during the quake... I fled the house. Now I am living here with my family," she said, speaking through a translator, adding that 13 people were living in the tent.

The 18-year-old is just one of around 2,000 refugees in the quake-hit Van province, mostly Afghans, many of whom have seen their homes damaged or destroyed in the October 23 quake.

Afghan Foziye Muhammedi, 17, said she too was sheltering in a tent along with her sisters and mother in the canvas village set up for victims in Van city.

"No father, no brother... only three sisters and mother," she said, struggling to articulate her misery.

"Turkey is a beautiful country," she said. "It is more beautiful than Afghanistan. But now after the quake, it is so hard to live here."

Avogul Kurbaneli, an Afghan woman, who appeared to be in her sixties, pointed to a makeshift shelter she had constructed from nylon.

"We are four people... I have nothing to eat. I don't have a tent," she said.

"We want a tent," said added. "We want bread."

Van province, bordering Iran, is one of 52 locations nationwide where refugees are temporarily accommodated before being resettled in third countries.

Sunday's quake killed 570 people and injured 2,500, according to official figures.

The nightly sub-zero temperatures have ensured even more misery for survivors who have been forced to camp out amid fears that even those buildings still standing could collapse in aftershocks.