Caritas aid for Syrian refugees

August 15, 2012: Caritas, the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies, is now assisting 13,000 persons who have been affected by the conflict there, including Syrian refugees who have fled their homes for Jordan and Lebanon and Iraqi refugees who are fleeing Syria to return to their native Iraq.

“This calamity is worsening day by day,” said Michel Roy, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis. “Caritas is striving to help the most vulnerable as we pray and act for peace. The solution is not in an all-out war, but in negotiation between the parties.”

Caritas has been helping Syrian refugees since the crisis started in 2011. Now, Caritas is scaling up its efforts in order to serve the increasing number of families who have fled their homes.

In Jordan, Caritas is providing food, medical care, and items like blankets and diapers to refugees in Mafraq, Zarqa, Madaba, and beyond. In Lebanon, Caritas has a free mobile clinic that visits Syrian refugee patients, primarily in the Bekaa Valley. Social workers from the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Centre are distributing food and emergency supplies in the refugees’ makeshift tent camps, as well as to refugees living in apartments or old buildings in the Bekaa, in Beirut, and in other places.

In some cases, Iraqi refugees who lived in Syria for years are now fleeing back to Iraq, where Caritas Iraq is responding to the refugee crisis.

Within Syria itself, many people have been displaced or have lost their livelihoods. Caritas is providing food in Homs and Aleppo to those in need. Because there is not enough fuel, in Aleppo Caritas is providing sandwiches instead of cooked food. The distribution centres are schools and volunteers, including young scouts, are distributing the food.
Overall, Caritas is helping more than 13,000 Syrians affected by the crisis.