May - The DEC Syria Appeal

To link in with Christian Aid week we will be supporting the DEC Syria Appeal via Christian Aid.  As with all long term tragedies the situation of the Syrian refugees becomes less newsworthy though the traumas continue and the death toll mounts. The terrible suffering of children that is almost unbearable to watch on our televisions is the daily reality.

The Disasters Emergency Committee brings 14 leading UK aid charities together in times of crisis all collectively raising money to quickly reach those in need. The DEC draws on many years of experience to plan and deliver each appeal, striving to ensure that the relevant support reaches the people who need it as quickly as possible.

This is an extract from the report of an aid worker’s assessment of the makeshift refugee camps, “As an aid worker, I’ve visited many camps of this kind, but what struck me the most about Syria was the lack of any international presence and limited camp management. We were confronted with total chaos and immense human suffering.

There were makeshift tents that were housing large numbers of people in overcrowded conditions. I met one family that was sharing a tent with fifteen other people. Food was in very short supply and there was a lack of medical care and inadequate sanitation. Most of the people I met in the camp had not eaten that day. The freezing conditions meant that most of the children had racking coughs as they tried to withstand the coldest winter Syria has seen in ten years - with damp blankets and hardly any heating.

Families told me they had fled to the borders because of frequent bomb attacks and because their hometowns no longer had even basic supplies of food or water. It was awful to see the stress these families were under – and sickening to see how little help was reaching them. I’ve seen for myself how vital it is for aid agencies to deliver more aid inside Syria. A breakthrough is desperately needed for aid agencies to establish a more significant presence inside Syria and help the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who desperately need humanitarian assistance.”

For more information on Christian Aid's Syria appeal click here