Refugees crossing the sea to get to Europe are mostly Syrians. People in Need helps them directly in Syria

According to the recent statistics from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), out of 36,390 refugees, which came safely to Italy, Greece and Malta since the beginning of this year,  8865 people were from Syria. Refugees from Eritrea were the second largest group (3363 people), followed by 2908 Somalis and 2371 Afghans. These figures show that conflicts in Syria and Iraq are significant push-factors for migration to Europe.

“We don’t tell anyone whether he or she should stay in Syria or try to escape, both options are extremely dangerous and pose a direct threat to life. However, we primarily focus on those who decided to stay and try living their normal lives in the countries tormented by war. We also start helping refugees, especially children, in Turkey and neighbouring countries, which do their best for the victims of war and are almost out of their capacities,” says PIN’s Relief and Development Department director Jan Mrkvička and adds that only a small percentage of all refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq move further to Europe. “The majority of people prefer to stay in the area with a familiar culture, religion and language,” explains PIN’s Head of Mission in Syria Tomas Kocian.

People are leaving also because they have lost their jobs and homes during the war. They cannot find it even in the neighbouring countries, because of the enormous inflow of refugees which results in the shortage of work and livelihoods. “From what refugees told me I know that first of all people try to settle in the villages and towns in the border region, and only then go for refugee camps, where they can have some illegal work. If they are not satisfied, they mostly go back to Syria,” says Tomas Kocian.

Only a small percentage of these refugees are going further to Europe. “But even a small percentage of the 3,9 million refugees, means that on the boats of smugglers in the Mediterranean Sea desperate Syrian people are the most frequent passengers,” explains Jan Mrkvička. Providing help to people is a key to the prevention of illegal and dangerous migration. People in Need focused not only on the immediate humanitarian aid, such as distribution of food, but also on the building of sustainable livelihoods and dealing with the consequences of the conflict.

Seeds and tools for Syrian farmers

In the Syrian province of Idlib, where the situation is more stable, People in Need distributed seeds and tools among 2000 farmers before the sowing time. “People will also get training how to grow tomatoes, eggplants, parsley, cucumbers, pumpkins and melons,” says Jitka Škovránková, PIN’s program coordinator in Syria. “Vegetables will enrich people’s diet, they can store part of the harvest, and sell the rest on the local market,” adds Škovránková. More families will get a similar support before the autumn sowing.

Other 1,500 vulnerable people will have the chance to get some public work and contribute to the family’s budget. First 500 people have already got involved. “People collect household waste, repair damaged water sources and pipes, deal with debris, repair sewerage, damaged electrical wiring or bombed roads,” says Jitka Škovránková. Apart from earning some money people will also improve the infrastructure in the area and support the local economy by buying from local traders.

Our teams in Syria will continue to provide people with bread, food packages and vouchers. Furthermore, PIN will continue to work in 24 schools and help with repairs, wages for teachers and  school supplies for children. We are also training the teachers how to work with traumatised children. Sometimes the war hit schools directly, like it happened a few days ago, when a school supported by People in Need was bombed. It resulted in the death of five children and four teachers.

“We will strengthen psychosocial assistance within our education program. There will always be one or two social workers in 15 schools, which will refer traumatised children to experts,” says Jitka Škovránková and adds that People in Need will also focus on education of Syrian children in Turkey.

Our aid in Syria in numbers:

• 80.000 people gets a free bread daily
• 125.000 people receive monthly food packages or vouchers
• 70,000 children were provided with special food packages
• 230,000 people received material assistance (blankets, mattresses, clothing etc.).
• 4.000 people received financial assistance
• 2000 farmers received seeds
• 86 schools were supported by PIN
• 5 field hospitals were provided with equipment
• 30 clinics were provided with medicines and medical supplies
• 450.000 people have access to drinking water thanks to repaired water sources and distribution systems
• 600.000 people are protected against the spread of diseases thanks to removal of household waste
• 13 local councils were trained for better provision of essential services to citizens

Since autumn 2014 People in Need also helps in Iraq. PIN focuses on helping internal refugees, who escaped from the thread of IS and settled in unfinished buildings in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Our team has helped more than 3000 people to survive the winter. “We provided families with mattresses, blankets, clothing for women and children, 160 families got stoves and kerosene for heating, people also received sheets, wooden boards and tools to repair provisional houses,” says PIN’s program coordinator in Iraq Nada Ali. In the future, PIN’s team in Iraq would like to focus on another areas liberated from the IS.   

Assistance in Iraq in numbers:

•     3030 people provided with assistance
•     130 families provided with mattresses and blankets
•     109 families received clothing for women and children
•     160 families received stoves and kerosene heaters
•     100 families received tarpaulins, wooden boards and tools
•     140 people provided with financial assistance

For example, in the area around Zumar in Nineveh province, where PIN’s team made a detailed assessment, 97% of inhabitants (about 110.000 people) left before the invasion of the so-called Islamic State. After the liberation, only 77.000 people came back. “However, many people found their houses destroyed. Schools, hospitals and offices were also damaged. On top of that there is unexploded ammunition and mines in the fields and no electricity orwater in the majority of villages,” says PIN’s coordinator Veronika Jemelíková, who visited the area.

Schools are seriously damaged, students often attend classes in charred rooms without windows and their teachers do not get paid. Renewal of schools will be one of the main priorities for People in Need. Due to the worsening of the situation in Iraq, PIN decided to expand the fundraising campaign SOS Syria & Iraq. “In the past two and a half years we demonstrated our ability to help the most vulnerable people in the complex conflict in Syria. Now we need additional resources to provide help in Iraq, where the humanitarian situation is worsening,” says Jan Mrkvička.

People in Need in Syria and Iraq

From the year 2012, People in Need provided victims of the Syrian conflict with more than 420 million CZK in form of humanitarian aid and assistance. The team in Syria includes 100 people, 80 of them work inside the country. With permanent offices in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and in the city of Aleppo, PIN is one of the major providers of aid within the country. To help Syria, Czech donors contributed more than 11 million CZK through the public appeal SOS Syria, another 5 million CZK were contributed by the Club of Friends of People in Need, and 4,4 million CZK were contributed by our charity e-shop “The Real Gift”. Help is also possible thanks to the support of the Czech Government, the British Government (DFID), the Swiss Government (SDC), European Union (ECHO and ENPI), the German Government (BMZ and AA) and the German partner organization Welthungerhilfe from the platform Alliance2015, the World Food Programme (WFP ) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

To help in Iraq, PIN allocated 4 million CZK from the fund of “Club of Friends of People in Need”. PIN has two international workers in Iraq and cooperates with the local NGO Al-Mesala.

For more information contact:

Jan Mrkvička, Relief and Development Department Director

+420 777 787 961, Jan.Mrkvicka@clovekvtisni.cz

Tomas Kocian, Head of the Mission in Syria

+905351045062 (in Turkey), Tomas.Kocian@clovekvtisni.cz

Jitka Škovránková, program coordinator for People in Need in Syria

+420 777 787 934, Jitka.Skovrankova@clovekvtisni.cz

Nadia Ali, program coordinator of People in Need in Iraq

+420 778 486 244, Nada.Aliova@clovekvtisni.cz