damascus: Foreign governments are failing to deliver the money they promised for homeless Syrians fleeing the civil war, and this, rather than lack of access, is the main reason for the massive shortage of aid, according to the main volunteer agency in the country.
“We can reach people in 90 percent of Syrian territory but we need help financially. There are 4 million internally displaced but we’re only able to cover the needs of half of them”, Khaled Erksoussi, head of operations at the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (Sarc), said.
Britain’s Disasters Emergency Committee, which represents the main British charities, has broadcast an appeal for donations for the millions of war-displaced Syrians. The committee includes the British Red Cross which invited Erksoussi and Sarc’s president, Dr Abdul Rahman Attar, to London last week.
While strongly supporting the appeal, Erksoussi pointed out that the shortfall in necessary funding could largely be met if foreign governments made good on their promises at a donors’ conference in Kuwait in January.
Arab and western ministers surprised the UN by pledging just over $1.5bn in aid. It was a rare case of a UN appeal target being fully met. Almost half was promised by Arab governments, although there were some dramatic exceptions.
But two months later governments have supplied only 30 percent of the promised cash, even though the number of Syrians forced to flee their homes has accelerated over the past two months. “Don’t pretend you’re involved in humanitarian aid if you don’t give money”, Erksoussi said.
Sarc is the main agency that distributes aid to needy Syrians on behalf of the big UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross. It has about 9,000 volunteers in 80 sub-branches around the country. Many take great risks in crossing the frontlines to bring food, clothing, blankets and medicine to people who have fled their homes. Seventeen volunteers have been killed.
Sarc’s funding comes from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies as well as directly from individual societies like the British Red Cross. It receives no funding from the Syrian government.
In spite of this, some Syrian opposition groups claim Sarc is not neutral, a charge which Erksoussi finds “very stupid” and politically motivated. He points out that nine Sarc volunteers have been detained by government security agencies, and some have been held for more than a year.
“It costs nothing for the people who raise this noise. For us it costs lives. Don’t mix politics with humanitarian aid”, he said.
Guardian News
