Qatar: 4,000 World Cup Huts Sent to Quake-Hit Türkiye, Syria

Workers load cabins and caravans used during the football World Cup in Qatar onto a cargo ship slated for departure from Hamad Port, on March 20, 2023, as a donation to Türkiye and Syria to house people who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake in early February. (AFP)
Workers load cabins and caravans used during the football World Cup in Qatar onto a cargo ship slated for departure from Hamad Port, on March 20, 2023, as a donation to Türkiye and Syria to house people who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake in early February. (AFP)
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Qatar: 4,000 World Cup Huts Sent to Quake-Hit Türkiye, Syria

Workers load cabins and caravans used during the football World Cup in Qatar onto a cargo ship slated for departure from Hamad Port, on March 20, 2023, as a donation to Türkiye and Syria to house people who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake in early February. (AFP)
Workers load cabins and caravans used during the football World Cup in Qatar onto a cargo ship slated for departure from Hamad Port, on March 20, 2023, as a donation to Türkiye and Syria to house people who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake in early February. (AFP)

Qatar has sent 4,000 cabins built to house fans at last year's World Cup to earthquake survivors in Türkiye and Syria, authorities said Monday.

The Associated Press watched as the latest batch of pre-fabricated cabins was loaded onto a cargo ship in the Arabian Gulf.

The Qatar Development Fund began shipping cabins last month and says it will send a total of 10,000 to house people displaced by the Feb. 6 earthquake.

Qatar says it had always planned to donate the mobile homes. They were needed to help house some of the 1.4 million fans who descended on the country during soccer’s biggest tournament late last year.

The brightly colored cabins, each with thin walls, were designed to hold one or two people with twin beds, a nightstand, a small table and chair, air conditioning, a toilet and a shower inside.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck parts of Türkiye and Syria on Feb. 6, killing more than 52,000 people — the vast majority in Türkiye. More than 200,000 buildings in Türkiye either collapsed or were severely damaged, leaving millions homeless.

Qatar and other Gulf countries have joined the global effort to send aid to the stricken region.



GCC Welcomes Agreement between Yemen Govt, Houthis

Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special representative for Yemen, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, on Aug. 28, 2023. (AP)
Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special representative for Yemen, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, on Aug. 28, 2023. (AP)
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GCC Welcomes Agreement between Yemen Govt, Houthis

Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special representative for Yemen, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, on Aug. 28, 2023. (AP)
Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special representative for Yemen, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, on Aug. 28, 2023. (AP)

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi welcomed on Wednesday the agreement between the legitimate Yemeni government and Iran-backed Houthi militias to de-escalate the situation with regard to the Yemeni banking sector and airlines.

The agreement was announced by the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, on Tuesday.

Albudaiwi expressed the GCC's support for all regional and international efforts and the efforts led by the UN special envoy aimed at achieving peace and security in Yemen.

The announcement underscores the importance the international community attaches to the Yemeni crisis, he added, hoping the agreement will pave the way for Yemeni parties to start the political process, under UN auspices, to reach a comprehensive political solution that achieves security and stability in the country.

He reiterated the GCC's continued support and full solidarity with Yemen, its government and people, and its keenness to encourage all efforts to de-escalate and maintain stability in order to reach peace.