High heels and dirty lingerie donated to victims in appeal after huge earthquake
Charity workers have been left horrified to find heels, dirty lingerie and ripped and stained clothing as well as other "inappropriate" donations given to victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Videos shared on TikTok show volunteers sifting through boxes of aid, pulling out items including 10-inch latex heels, a silver disco crop top, brown-stained towels and lingerie.
Volunteers working around the clock as part of the relief efforts have appealed for "dignity in charity".
One part of the video shows a blanket — which is a required item in Syria and Turkey where people have been left homeless in freezing conditions — covered in a huge yellowy-brown stain.
"Clothing collection drop-offs are not a place where you can empty your trash," one comment said.
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A dirty blanket was donated (tiktok)
Ripped clothing was donated (tiktok)While another wrote: "‘Those people also have pride. Does your conscience not hurt at all? It is enough for God’s sake. Please, enough."
Erim Metto, CEO of the Turkish Cypriot Community Association, based in London, told Metro.co.uk that a fifth of all donations were "inappropriate" or "unusable."
He continued: "We were very clear about what donations we would accept. We did say we would not accept any inappropriate clothing.
Unacceptable clothing which would be no help to victims (tiktok)
Stained clothing was also given to charity (tiktok)"For example, no thin-layer clothing, dresses or high heels. When donations come through, we do a two-stage cycling system.
"The first stage is removing any second-hand, no-good-for-anything donations.
"Our volunteers filter these through and they are discarded – for example, hygiene products that are only half-full and have been used.
"This is not appropriate. Such donations are thrown away.
"Once we get through that first stage, anything that is again not appropriate for the location we are gathering donations for, but is still usable, we would package separately and give to Trade."
The 7.8-magnitude quake hit in the early hours of February 6 followed by a 7.5-magnitude tremor just after midday (Getty Images)Most organisations have stressed that money is the best way to help the victims of the catastrophic event which killed over 45,000 people.
Mr Metto, a filmmaker of Turkish-Cypriot descent, told the Metro that large lorries, which are independent of any official charities, have been transporting aid to Turkey and dumping it on the side of the road because there are no available storage facilities.
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Two men and a child rescued by search and rescue teams from under the rubble of a collapsed building (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)"I would say that about 20% of the items we received were not appropriate, so we didn’t send any of it," he added, "But we are still sending items. For example, we just did two shipments of camping tents. That is how we are working."
The United Nations has launched an appeal for over $1bn (£830m) to fund the Turkish relief operation, and another $400m (£332m) for Syrians. Aid groups say survivors will need months of help to rebuild their lives.
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