Archive for category: Refugees and Displaced Persons

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Protecting Displaced Mothers-to-Be

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For mothers-to-be, few things are scarier than not knowing where they will have their baby. During wars and conflicts like those in Yemen, Sudan and Nigeria, people flee and become refugees. Some of those leaving are pregnant women. Despite being displaced persons, they still need the same care during their pregnancies and deliveries; however, many times refugee camps are unsanitary and have few medical staff with limited supplies. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and USAID work together to bring proper medical care to pregnant refugee women in Nigeria who have fled from Boko Haram.

The goal is to provide safe, clean, dignifying births to mothers. USAID sent UNFPA birth kits from Deluxe Childbirth Services to be handed out to mothers and potential mothers. This ensures that no matter where a woman ends up giving birth, she will have with her the items necessary for safe delivery. Included in the kit are a delivery mat, three infant diapers, antibacterial soap, methylated spirits, five pieces of gauze, cotton wool, an infant cord clamp, a scalpel and mucus extractor. USAID is also providing funding for training skilled delivery nurses in refugee camps and areas. Upon delivery, mothers receive baby packs with clothes and items that newborns need.

The goal of the packs is to provide the tools for doctors and nurses to deliver a baby in resource-limited areas as well as necessary sanitation items to prevent infection. Infections and lack of proper tools are the leading cause of maternal deaths in developing countries.

It is expected that there will be 60,000 births by displaced women in Nigeria alone this year. That means already limited resources will be taxed. The birth kits are a welcomed item in refugee camps because it means more women can have a safe and healthy delivery.

– Katherine Hewitt

Sources: Premium Times, news24
Photo: Premium Times

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The Young Syrian Refugees

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Since the civil war in Syria broke out just three years ago, four million people have sought refuge in the neighboring countries of Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. So far, 100,000 have been killed. 7,000 of them are children.

The Middle East’s biggest refugee camp, Zaatari, lies in Jordan. It shelters 120,000 Syrians in a community divided into 12 districts. It costs $500,000 to run the camp. Camp workers dole out 500,000 pieces of bread and 3.5 million liters of water a day. Three-fourths of residents are women and children.

Of the 650,000 people that fled Syria to arrive in Turkey, one-third are allowed into refugee camps. There is no room for the res; they have to fend for themselves. Nizar Najjar is the assistant director of Camp Bab al-Salameh. He explains, “Sometimes we do not have the capacity to receive new refugees. Some people (are forced to) just put up their tents in fields.”

Those in camps do not have it much better. Dr. Al-Naser is a part of a group called “Medical Relief for Syria”. He says that the spread of disease is a big concern. “It’s a problem with sanitation, how to dispose of bathing water and used toilet water. There are lakes of waste in some areas.” Trucks bring in the camp’s only source of freshwater.

Young Syrian refugees are often traumatized. They have faced the horrors of being under siege, losing their homes and being separated from their families. Groups that flee travel by night and hide during the day. Some are shot at by fighter jets. Even once they reach the border, shelling still echoes in the distance.

Sara* is a 12-year old girl who fled Syria with her mother and brother along with her aunt, uncle and grandmother one year ago. She does not know the whereabouts of her father, who was kidnapped in 2013. The family was forced to leave once they lost touch with a brother-in-law that was providing them with money and resources.

Sara’s family arrived at a camp in Lebanon run by activists. They managed to find a simple apartment. It gives them a safe place to stay, but it is not insulated and floods as soon as it rains. Rent and electricity cost $230 each month. Back in Syria, they were a middle-class family, and now charities help them with essentials like food, rent and medical expenses. Sara’s grandmother has diabetes and high blood pressure.

It also costs money to renew visas, which is now mandated every six months. Many times, families are forced to return to Syria because they cannot afford it. It is difficult for refugees to find jobs and earn money. Sara’s 14 year-old brother makes $30 each week working for a nearby mechanic.

Affording school is nearly out of the question with high costs of transportation, books and other fees. Sara loved school back in peace-time Syria and completed grade five. She has not been in school for over three years now but is able to take French and English language classes that are offered by aid agencies in the area.

Antonio Guterres is the UN commissioner for refugees. He asks countries around the world do more to help these displaced people, including raising money to support them and their host countries. The president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, makes a similar request. He also hopes to rebuild Syria and add more access to basic public services.

Sara dreams of becoming a doctor and for her country’s healing. “I want this war to end. I expect the world is so much bigger, with so many more people. With time, the world changes. I hope the war will be over one day.”

*Names has been changed to protect her identity

– Lillian Sickler

Sources: Care, Daily Mail, The Guardian, CBS News, World Vison, The Daily Beast, MIC, NPR
Photo: Flickr

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South Sudanese Refugees Warmly Welcomed by Uganda

Sudanese_RefugeesSince the onset of ethnically-motivated conflict within South Sudan in December 2013, an estimated 150,000 South Sudanese civilians have fled the violence to neighboring Uganda. Government officials and civilians alike have cited the remarkably accepting refugee policies exercised by Uganda as catalysts for these migrations.

Refugees who travel to Uganda for asylum are met with an abundance of economic and social opportunities upon their arrival. Unlike many other nations currently experiencing heightened influxes of refugees due to the persistence of several regional conflicts, Uganda does not place newly arrived migrants into refugee camps operated by the United Nations and other foreign aid organizations.

Instead, refugees who successfully escape their conflict-ravaged homelands for the peace and security of Uganda are presented with the opportunity to move into permanent settlements where they are provided with their own plot of land. Additionally, various U.N. agencies provide access to food, water and home construction resources for newly arrived refugees. Localized primary schools and health clinics are commonly accessible in these areas of Uganda and are responsible for providing valuable resources to newly settled migrant populations.

Titus Jogo, refugee desk officer for the Adjumani District in Northern Uganda, stated in a recent interview regarding the legal statuses of South Sudanese refugees seeking asylum that “They have all the rights that are attributed to any human being, irrespective of their status as refugees.”

The conflict within South Sudan, the newest nation in the world after its founding in 2012, was initially caused by political disputes between President Salva Kiir and his former Deputy Minister, Riek Machar. The conflict has largely consisted of multiple tribal factions, including the Neur Tribe (loyal to Machar), and the Dinka group (loyal to President Kiir); both of these tribal groups have been accused by international monitoring groups of committing war crimes and human rights violations, including ethnically-targeted massacres and sexual assaults.

The most recent report provided by the UNHCR estimates that more than 730,000 people have fled the conflict in South Sudan to neighboring nations such as Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. This report also estimates that an additional 1.5 million South Sudanese civilians are currently suffering from internal displacement due to the escalation in ethnic violence. Many of these displaced civilians experience frequent relocations to areas known as “protection-of-civilians” sites. These sites are coordinated by the U.N. Mission in South Sudan and provide secure refugee camps for civilians who have fled their homes.

Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon recently explained in a statement regarding conditions within South Sudan, “The violence that has ravaged South Sudan over the past 18 months proves that there can never be a military solution to this conflict. I therefore call on all leaders of South Sudan – particularly President Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar–to prove their leadership by investing in a political solution and immediately concluding a comprehensive peace agreement. At the same time, the international community must take decisive steps to help end the fighting.”

The UNHCR recently released an international appeal for increased foreign aid designated for the current mission within South Sudan, noting the mounting number of refugees traveling to neighboring countries has depleted financial resources. While the organization estimates that $99 million is necessary to continue funding this operation, only nine percent of this goal has been raised to date.

The report explained that “Current resources remain insufficient to provide vital life-saving assistance and services, particularly in the areas of health, education and livelihoods and environment. Many South Sudanese refugee children, their country’s hope for the future, face key barriers to education including overcrowding in classrooms, a lack of teachers, and a lack of recreational activities to support constructive social engagement.”

– James Miller Thornton

Sources: The Guardian, Shanghai Daily, UN
Photo: Flickr

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Rozana Radio Gives a Voice to Syrian Civilians Facing War

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Propaganda is one tactic used to strengthen prejudice ideology and deliver false information. This unethical practice is emerging in Syria, where journalists are working at the cost of their lives report neutral and honest news. Giving the public accurate, unbiased, knowledgeable and hopeful information is one step in preparing for a peaceful resolution.

The Assad Regime and its opposition are suppressing freedom and sanctuary. President Bash al-Assad has formed a bias in the media by placing heavy regulations on anything that’s produced. In fact, death is optional for many journalists.

Lina Chawaf left Damascus after having been a journalist in Syria for 20 years. Her projects in those days was affiliated with fragile social problems. Her family moved to Canada, but she set up a radio station in Paris, France, called Rozana Radio. Her goal is to transmit independent, neutral reports and online information to Syria.

Though almost all foreign news channels have been blocked in the country, Rozana Radio uses different transmissions to bypass the interference. Each day she delivers two hours of news, comments and interviews through a satellite connection. It’s funded by French government agencies and nonprofit organizations across Europe.

Rozana’s website has had over 75,000 visitors in 2015. The information gathered for each report is researched and experienced by journalists who are using aliases to protect themselves. Over 70 journalists are working to produce findings to Rozana at the border of Turkey.

The training program for hidden journalists is called Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF). Their goal is to keep track of facts, data and daily struggles in Syria. Rozana’s news coverage is administered by five other Syrian journalists from thirty news networks with information across Syria.

The Syrian crisis includes shortening lifespan and is responsible for a large number of refugees. Journalists for Rozana are reporting why it is that the United Nation depicts Syria’s development as lagging behind. The station gives Syrians advice such as how to cope without electricity. It also works to inform parents how to care for their children without resources to food or warmth.

In an article written by Youssef al-Ahmad on Rozana’s website, the author highlights how emergency responses are being enhanced. Consequences to the opposition against the Assad Regime are hindering civilian livelihood.

Ali Diab invited defense leaders to democratically assign governmental members in a Board of Directors for a Civil Defense of Syria. In 2012, the Free Civil Defense corps began. The Civil Defense is primarily made of volunteers who train in Turkey. They have successfully protected 12,000 Syrians from violent disputes.

One other main topic Youssef al-Almad addresses is the involvement of women in Civil Defense efforts. They work with men as relief operators and increase productivity in rescue attempts. This type of information educates Syria and encourages equality, community activism and a morally neutral reporting tactic.

Though Rozana has been expected to support an “overseas agenda,” Chawaf makes it clear that her station’s mission is to undermine Assad’s grip on the media and deliver fair analysis of internal struggle and success. Since 20 percent of Syrians have internet access, Chawaf has to expose her station to multiple countries so word can reach Syrians quickly.

Many of those who have online access do not have stable power or service. Chawaf hopes to encourage ways to utilize other platforms to penetrate borders. She humbly admits in an article by Amar Toor from The Verge, “It’s not easy to control emotion if you’re seeing your own people getting killed. You have to be neutral, which is how we have trained them in Turkey.”

– Katie Groe

Sources: SIDA, ROZANA, Reuters, The Verge
Photo: Rozana.fm

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Water Access for Displaced Iraqis

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The International Organization for Migration has estimated that since January of 2014, over 3 million Iraqis have been displaced by ISIS militants and forced to relocate. In the past two months, over 276,000 have been forced to relocate out of fear or danger. Many of the refugees have chosen to abandon their homes and flee to the mountains in Northern Iraq to avoid the constant fear of attacks and violence from the Islamic State. Unfortunately, in addition to protection from violence, there is a desperate need for basic supplies such as food and water.

Amnesty International researcher, Donatella Rovera says, “The civilians trapped in the mountain area are not only at risk of being killed or abducted; they are also suffering from a lack of water access, food and medical care. We urge the international community to provide humanitarian assistance.”

In response to the conflict, UNICEF has worked to set up many transition camps in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Baherka is one such camp that was formerly a concrete factory outside outside the town of Erbil. The makeshift facility currently accommodates approximately 3,000 refugees. In the camp, every family has access to a kitchen, shower, latrine and 150 liters of water per day.

Adding to the numerous fears and concerns, there is also a reluctance for some Iraqis to join the refugee camps. Many of the refugee camps are overcrowded and can present their own unique set of dangers such as violence, disease or abduction. Separation from family members is another serious concern. For these reasons, many of these families choose to take their chances in the remote mountains where their communities are smaller. Access to clean water is also scarce due to the rough, mountainous terrain.

“The plight of displaced people caught up in the fighting in Iraq is increasingly desperate and all parties to the conflict must do more to ensure their safety,” states Rovera.

Thankfully, there are nongovernmental organizations working towards providing aid to these displaced Iraqis. UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) division has received funding from Germany’s KfW Development Bank and has been tasked with aiding 25 families living near the town of Dohuk in the mountains of Northern Iraq.

Fortunately, there are times when complex issues can be solved with ordinary and conventional methods. This has been the case thus far with the aforementioned Iraqi families. A tractor hitched to a 4,000 liter water tank has been providing water to over 62,000 people every day. Families fill up as many buckets and tin cans as they can carry and use the water for drinking in addition to bathing, washing and cooking.

However, funding needs are a constant reminder that this service is not permanent. Without access to clean water, Ghassan Madieh, the UNICEF WASH Specialist in Dohuk, states “There would be sewage in the streets… You will see people getting unchlorinated water. You will see less water quantity. It will have a negative impact on health, especially on children and the most vulnerable.”

– The Borgen Project

Sources: BBC, Telegraph, UNICEF 1, UNICEF 2
Photo: International Business Times

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Malala Opens Girls School for Syrian Refugees

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The Malala Yousafzai All-Girls School opened on July 12 to Syrian refugees—for girls who have fallen victims to displacement. Malala Yousafzai opened the school on behalf of the 28 million children who are kept from classrooms because of armed conflict. The event also marked Malala Yousafzai’s 18th birthday, of which she was proud.

Malala Yousafzai is no stranger to armed conflict, as she was attacked in her native Pakistan in 2012 because of her support and efforts to campaign for girls’ rights and education. For this brave act, Malala was in fact awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

Yousafzai currently believes that world leaders are failing Syria’s children. At the opening of the school she stated, “On this day, I have a message for the leaders of this country, this region and the world: you are failing the Syrian people, especially Syria’s children. This is a heart-breaking tragedy — the world’s worst refugee crisis in decades.”

That is why this school is one small step on Yousafzai’s part to help the children of the war-torn country. This effort is applauded by Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. He stated, “We are really heartened by Malala’s ardent support for the education of refugee girls whose aspirations have already been so cruelly cut short by war. These children are the future of Syria; we must not jeopardize that by denying them the basic right to education while they are in exile”.

The newly opened school will serve around 200 Syrian girls living in refugee camps in the Bekaa Valley region along the Lebanese border, to which many Syrians have fled.

This school will stand as a testament to the perseverance and strength of the Syrian children and hopefully become inspiration to the similar creation of future schools.

– Alysha Biemolt

Sources: Look to the Stars, UNHCR, PBS, Voanews
Photo: Sampsonia Way

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Jordan: A Refugee Haven

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The Middle East—in the north, Syria’s civil war between rebel forces trying to overthrow the dictator Bashar al-Assad rages. To the west, the perpetual conflict between Israel and Palestine continues. And with the rise of ISIS in Iraq to the east, there is no shortage of refugees.

Caught in the middle of this chaos is Jordan. The country has opened its borders for floods of refugees since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. An estimated 1.4 million Syrians have crossed into Jordan during the war, making it the highest concentration of refugees globally. In an interview with 60 Minutes last September, Jordan’s King Abdullah said that welcoming the refugees is the right thing to do: “Where else can the Syrians go? They are in dire straits.”

The situation in Jordan is a microcosm of a troubling trend. There are approximately 60 million refugees globally, averages that have not been seen since the end of World War II. Whether it is war, like in the Middle East, or a changing climate, people seek normalcy where there is food security and educational opportunity.

Unfortunately, assimilating refugees into a host country’s culture so that they may become working members of society is very costly. King Abdullah says that absorbing so many people has put a tremendous economic strain on his country. He does not know how long Jordan can continue.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been an essential cog in the machine supplying Syrian refugees. Formed by the United Nations in the early 1960s, the program feeds 80 million people in 75 countries annually. The United States pays a third of its $4 billion annual budget.

Their largest operation ever has been at a United Nations refugee camp just inside Jordan. Housing an estimated 130,000 people, this city in the desert has become home to many.

The WFP has set up grocery stores in the camp. Instead of receiving three meals a day, each refugee gets a voucher of $29 dollars a month. This gives them the dignity of cooking for themselves, said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin. In an interview with 60 Minutes last Thanksgiving, Cousin explained that this is a gesture of respect. “Many of these people had led normal, working lives,” she said. “The war took that from them.”

The organization has also been active in Syria. A portion of the 45,000 metric tons of food that is devoted to Jordanian refugee camps goes into Syria as well. Throughout the war, Assad’s forces have blockaded Syrian cities suspected of supporting the rebels. In Homs, the encirclement lasted more than 600 days before the WFP was able to negotiate a ceasefire with both sides to bring in vital food supplies.

The embattled civilians requested that the children, women and sick be evacuated before food was brought in. The WFP left Homs with 1,300 refugees and took them to the safety of Jordan. They left with a month’s worth of food supplies.

It is estimated that 6 million Syrians do not know where their next meal will come from. In the interview with 60 Minutes, an anonymous Syrian described how dire food shortages have become. His hometown just outside Damascus was sealed off. Despite the continued shelling and the exposure to nerve gas, he said hunger broke the town.

“No one thought we could starve to death in 21st century Syria,” he said. “The sad thing is that people are starving when food and aid is just minutes away, outside the blockades.” As the Syrian civil war continues and instability steadily dots every other corner of the region, Jordan has become the only option for refuge for many people.

Expanding humanitarian aid will allow Jordan and the WFP to help the millions who are still displaced today.

– Kevin Meyers

Sources: USAID, Business Insider, CBS 1, CBS 2
Photo: Flickr

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In Transit: The World’s Fleeing Refugee Crisis

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On July 1, 2015, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guteress, addressed a congregation of international humanitarian organizations in Geneva about the escalating challenges his agency faced in what is widely being called the greatest refugee crisis the world has ever known.

“For an age of unprecedented mass displacement, we need an unprecedented humanitarian response and a renewed global commitment to tolerance and protection for people fleeing conflict and persecution,” the High Commissioner urged.

In his speech Guteress told listeners, “The moment of truth had arrived.” He was speaking in regards to the tremendous strain the world’s current refugee crisis has placed on the resources of Europe and other host countries. Across the globe, fleeing refugees are migrating at unprecedented rates.

The world’s current refugee crisis cannot be explained in simple terms. It is a complex issue with many factors involved. Political instability, devastating wars and lack of adequate economic opportunities are all reasons why people are leaving their countries in search of greener pastures.

In last month’s United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Global Trends Report: World at War, the estimated number of people displaced due to war, conflict and persecution was a staggering 59.5 million at the end of 2014. On average, 42,500 people are newly displaced per day.

A few countries are well known to all, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, but they do not represent the entire spectrum of refugees. The refugees come from Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, Pakistan, North Korea, Mexico and many other South American countries. Most are currently fleeing to Europe, but others are going to the United States, Indonesia and Australia.

It truly is a global refugee crisis.

In a newly published Human Rights Watch report, “The Mediterranean Migration Crisis,” senior analysis reported that in 2014, over 219,000 refugees attempted to navigate the Mediterranean Sea into Europe, which is considered the world’s deadliest crossing. This was up from 60,000 the previous year. So why are people enduring such dangerous undertakings for a better life?

The report interviewed over 150 refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia, Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan. The migrants echoed similar reasons for leaving their countries—lack of security and basic necessities such as food, water and medicine. Not surprisingly, these are some of the poorest countries in the world with some of the direst need for humanitarian aid.

There is a direct correlation between humanitarian aid and fleeing refugees. The nations with the largest need for humanitarian aid are also responsible for some of the largest number of fleeing refugees.

Humanitarian aid is used to run programs that provide potential refugees with more than just food and water. Humanitarian efforts provide tools for farmers to grow crops that they can sell in market places, providing income to their families and strengthening their local markets.

The aid also provides educational facilities, training people with the skills that they need to be successful. People who are finding economic stability in their own nations are less likely to flee.

However, passing aid to the ailing countries is not the only way the world can help solve the refugee crisis. Host nations and coalitions such as the European Union (EU) need aid to support refugee and asylum seeking processing facilities. The burden of dealing with so many refugees must be equally distributed among developed nations. The blind eye approach many developed countries are practicing is not helping the situation.

Even though the United States is not the destination for the majority of refugees, it is tremendously affected by the issues of extreme poverty that are driving these migrations. An example is the situation in Greece, a country already preoccupied with economic collapse and in desperate need of a bailout. The U.N. reported more than 48,000 refugees entered the country in 2014. The economic pressure of all these issues reduces the buying power of Greece, in turn reducing U.S. exports to the country.

This year, the U.N. has declared that it needs no less than $18.1 billion to meet the needs of over 80 million people. Currently it has only received 26% of that amount.

The United States cannot continue to ignore the global refugee crisis and must work with the EU to provide more aid. The Borgen Project has demonstrated extensively how providing foreign aid in such situations reduces global threats to the United States and bolsters the U.S. economy.

If the United States does not help provide more aid and the refugees continue to flee, years of development and aid will all go to waste. Rebuilding developing nations will be a lot more expensive for future generations, considering there will be no one there left to help rebuild.

— Adnan Khalid

Sources: Human Rights Watch, International Organization for Migration, U.N. 1, U.N. 2, UNHCR
Photo: NGO News Africa

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Angelina Jolie and Daughter Visit Turkey for World Refugee Day

Angelina-Jolie-and-Shiloh-World-Refugee-DayAccording to the UN Refugee Agency, Turkey is the top refugee-hosting country in the world with just under 2 million asylum seekers. A vast majority of the refugees are Syrians, Kurds and Iraqis fleeing the violence of the Syrian Civil War and ongoing crisis involving the Islamic State.

In an effort to bring awareness to one of the largest refugee crises in history, Angelina Jolie embarked on a UN tour of the affected region. The movie star and long-time humanitarian was joined by her daughter, Shiloh, and stopped at the Midyat Refugee Camp in Turkey on June 20th to commemorate World Refugee Day. Jolie was also accompanied by UN Special Envoy Antonio Guterres. The group met with Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss the challenges that Turkey faces given an unprecedented number of refugees.

Jolie issued a statement at the camp in which she calls on the world to act. She said, “We are here for a simple reason: This region is at the epicenter of a global crisis. Nearly 60 million people are displaced from their homes. That is one in every 122 people on our planet. Our world has never been richer or healthier or more advanced. Yet never before have so many people been dispossessed and stripped of their basic human rights.”

Later in her speech Jolie stressed the impact that refugee camps have on the people that house them. While providing more security than war torn cities and villages, the camps more often than not make the poor even worse off. Jolie stated, “Families like the six young people I met yesterday, living in Lebanon without parents, on half food rations and paying US$100 a month to live in a tent because UNHCR does not have the funds or capability to take full care of everyone.” Already with limited resources and away from home, refugees have the burden of coming up with funds to keep their temporary shelter even though, as refugees, they “cannot legally work in their host-countries.”

There is hope, however. Jolie made her speech on a key day, a day dedicated to bringing light to the very issues at the core of her delivery. Her celebrity status will ensure that more people listen to her message, and in turn act to help. Jolie and other media figures have even inspired governments to act. Jolie thanked the governments of Turkey and other refugee hosting nations for taking in millions. To finish, the actress wished all the families she spoke to, and by extension the refugee families across the globe, a good Ramadan with “Ramadan Kareem.”

– Joe Kitaj

Sources: UNHCR, US Magazine
Photo: Flickr

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UN Scales Back Food Aid for Syrian Refugees

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In the wake of large budget cuts and conflict with the Islamic State, or ISIS, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling back its food aid for more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon. These cuts will manifest themselves in the monthly food assistance vouchers that Syrian refugees receive. Normally valued at $19 per person, the vouchers will be reduced to $13.50 as of July.

Around 75% of Syrian refugee households in Lebanon are undergoing “some level of food insecurity,” according to a recent WFP survey. In addition, roughly 800,000 refugees in Lebanon qualify for food vouchers, and this scale-back is arriving right in the middle of Ramadan.

The WFP was banking on a ceasefire between ISIS and the Syrian government in order to let Syrian farmers harvest wheat stored in ISIS territory. No such ceasefire took place.

“That wheat that is harvested cannot be brought across lines of conflict into the area where it is needed most by people who are suffering now into a fifth year of this conflict,” WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin told the Associated Press.

A WFP press release issued earlier this month points out that the WFP’s refugee operations are currently 81% underfunded. The WFP is requesting $139 million in order to continue aiding refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Iraq through the summer.

“We are extremely concerned about the impact these cuts will have on refugees and the countries that host them,” WFP Regional Director Muhammad Hadi told the U.N. News Centre. “Families are taking extreme measures to cope such as pulling their children out of school, skipping meals and getting into debt to survive. The long-term effects of this could be devastating.”

– Alexander Jones

Sources: McGuirk, UN, Wood
Photo: The Guardian