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Lending a helping hand to Iraqi refugees

It is for the sake of all these people, the innocent Iraqi civilians including the children, women and the elderly, that a number of local and international charities had geared up to provide relief and aid after the war broke out on Thursday.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charity and Humanitarian Foundation (MBRCHF) has launched an aid campaign for the Iraqi people under the banner "With Us To Support The Iraqi People" in order to provide assistance to victims of the war.

Ibrahim Bu Melha, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the foundation, said that a month-long donation drive in the UAE had been launched during which the public can donate to this cause either through special donation collection centres or via the foundation's bank accounts. The accounts are Dubai Islamic Bank - A/c No 8570000 and National Bank of Dubai - A/c No 0151511105.

He said the foundation has drawn up a comprehensive action plan, involving different committees of the foundation, to deliver aid materials of various kinds to the Iraqi people through various charity organisations operating inside Iraq, with whom the foundation already cooperates in this field.

Mr Bu Melha added that the campaign will be conducted in cooperation with various local charity organisations, in order to collect maximum donations and relief materials to support the Iraqi people and stand by them at their time of crisis.

He urged all kind-hearted and magnanimous people of the UAE to rush with their donations so that "all of us can join in helping the Iraqi brethren."

Khalifa Nasser Al Suweidi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UAE Red Crescent Society, told Khaleej Times that Iraqi people had been living in bad conditions for 12 years during which its citizens suffered from lack of food stuff, medicines and medical materials, in addition to the disruption of electricity and the pollution of water.

"Knowing that such conditions will even worsen after the war in many Iraqi cities, the UAE RCS had since long started its preparations to face such a situation. We had sent delegations to monitor the actual needs of people and they visited various Iraqi cities. We had also coordinated with a number of local and international charity organisations. We signed an agreement with the Iraqi Red Crescent under which we supported the strategic stock of the latter with various food items purchased from the Iraqi local market.

"We had also signed another agreement with the Unicef in Baghdad under which we supported the Unicef project for the Iraqi children by securing the requirements of children, including milk and medicines, in addition to securing the needs of children's hospitals, mainly electricity to ensure they receive the primary care," Mr Al Suweidi said.

The RCS of the UAE had established a bakery in Baghdad to provide bread free of charge to the Iraqi people and had also sent a shipment of food products to Umm Qasr Port and had the society's representative supervise the distribution to beneficiaries in Al Basra city.

He added that the UAE RCS has at present a representative inside Iraq to follow-up the implementation of the relief and aid programme which was initiated by the society's delegations who visited Iraq lately. However, Mr Al Suweidi felt that it is difficult at this stage to determine the actual quantities and the nature of of relief items or food supplies needed in Iraq.

He promised that the society will do its best to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people and "in order to achieve this noble cause we are coordinating with the regional and international organisations operating in Baghdad in addition to coordinating with similar charities in Syria and Jordan to provide relief services to the Iraqi refugees who might flee to these countries," Mr Al Suweidi said.

Ashraf Nada, Media Director of the Ajman-based Human Appeal International (HAI) commented that the relief work for victims of the war on Iraq will be a very huge operation and as such it was important that relief agencies not only from the region but from across the globe join hands to carry it through.

"Four hands are better than two; we realise the enormity of the task at hand and are also aware of the network, experience and reach of organisations such as the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charity and Humanitarian Foundation and the UAE Red Crescent Society," Mr Nada said, adding that HAI is cooperating with these humanitarian organisations, who will spearhead the relief operations for refugees from Iraq.

Other humanitarian and charity organisations in Dubai, Sharjah and other emirates are also lending support to the two major establishments in the relief works. Hossam Abdul Al Qadeer, Executive Secretary of Sharjah Charity International, said that their efforts and contributions to the relief work for Iraqis within and outside of Iraq will be channelled through the RCS. With the first 'strikes' by the US on select Iraqi targets, Ockenden International, a British-based international development agency with regional offices in Dubai, announced the establishment of a relief programme, in cooperation with the republic of Iran, to assist up to 30,000 people fleeing the conflict in Iraq.

"Through this intervention, we hope to minimise the suffering and trauma of those having to flee Iraq," Sarah Dawson, Regional Programme Coordinator for Ockenden International, said. She added that over the past 16 months, Ockenden has learned from its experience in Iran and the crisis in Afghanistan that it is vital to have assistance delivered promptly to the refugees as they arrive.

"Kitchen utensils, sleeping mats, blankets and tents, clothing and footwear, kerosene stoves and lamps, heaters and cookers, water containers (clean drinking water), food packets, basic medicines and hygiene kits - containing liquid soap, washing powder, tooth brushes and paste, shaving tackle, napkins etc, are the major requirements in any relief work and the current crisis is no exception," Dr Adel Gawish, Chairman and Managing Director of Chancel International, the Middle East's largest manufacturer and supplier of relief material, told Khaleej Times.

Talking about the current situation in Iraq, Dr Gawish said that Chancel has been preparing for the eventuality for over three months now and confirmed that the company's warehouses in Iran, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Cyprus and Turkey are holding large stocks of relief material for various UN agencies and international non-governmental organisations.

Meanwhile, the Toronto-based non-profit, non-governmental, non-denominational registered charitable foundation, Canadian Relief Foundation (CRF), announced recently that it was ready to provide emergency assistance to innocent civilians in Iraq.

"We have two offices set up in Iraq, one in Dohuk, about a half hour from the border of Turkey in northern Iraq, and the second in Baghdad," Jeewan Chanicka, CRF Media Relations Director, was quoted as saying.

According to the CRF, a recently leaked UN projection cited that 500,000 Iraqis will need medical assistance in the early stages of the conflict, not including the millions who will be displaced by this war and will need food, clothing as well as medical care.

"We are expecting the tide of refugees to be extremely high," Dr Raza Khan, a Canadian family physician and CRF's Vice-Chairman, said.

Thousands of families have already fled to northern Iraq and are in deplorable condition and food and clothing, particularly warm winter clothing for the children, are the immediate relief priorities.

"Many people think their voices can't be heard or that there is little they can do," said Anne Marie St. Onge, CRF Director for Fund-raising. "Yes, we can make a difference. A little of our money can go a long way over there," she added.

Tarek Daher, representative of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the UAE, told Khaleej Times, that the MSF signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Health in Iraq.

"According to the agreement, the MSF will provide medical and surgical services at a hospital in Baghdad," he said, adding that speacialised surgeons will be ready to receive patients and conduct war surgery.

He pointed out that eight members of the MSF are currently in Iraq and that they will be cooperating with Iraqi human resources to provide medical services for more patients.

"The MSF also agreed with the ministry on aiding around 20,000 displaced individuals," Mr Daher said, adding that the security of the MSF members is a priority and an evacuation plan will be implemented in case they were exposed to danger.

"There are two MSF units each in Kuwait and Jordan, they will back up the unit operation inside Iraq by providing medical supplies," he said, noting that medical stocks are available in Belgium, France and Holland, and can be channelled into Iraq in a short span of time.

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