Qatar charities launch relief operations in Aleppo

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Service (RAF) and Sheikh Eid Bin Mohamed Al Thani Charity Foundation have initiated urgent relief measures in the Syrian city of Aleppo, which has suffered deadly air raids by the Syrian regime. Expressing deep sorrow at and censure of the assault against health facilities in various parts of Aleppo, which have caused heavy casualties and damage, QRCS, as a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, said: “These actions constitute a clear violation of the international humanitarian law that undermines humanitarian efforts in Syria and contradicts all relevant international treaties and conventions”. Citing Article 3 of the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Second Additional Protocol, which stipulate that “the wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for”, QRCS has called upon all parties to the conflict to comply with the provisions of the International Humanitarian Law and observe their legal and moral obligation of respecting and protecting medical and relief workers while doing their work for the benefit of the victims of the conflict. QRCS has also initiated an urgent relief intervention to provide medical supplies, food, and fuel worth $200,000. Early in April, QRCS began operating the Al-Sakhour Medical Centre, the only health facility in this part of the city of Aleppo, serving its 100,000 population as well as the neighboring districts. Since its opening, the centre has received more than 100 visitors per day, working with a budget of $185,000 till the year-end. QRCS is providing medications, medical consumables, and surgical serums for hospitals in Aleppo city and countryside. Mobile clinics are dispatched from QRCS’s Injara and Bab Al-Salama medical centres, receiving 50 patients per day. Earlier this year, QRCS secured six water tankers to deliver drinking water into Aleppo for 350,000 people, at a total cost of $250,000. Extra five tankers are currently procured to cover more districts, at a total cost of $500,000, in cooperation with the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). QRCS personnel in Aleppo are planning to secure 1,850 medical kits, 28,000 litres of fuel, water purification pills, and food items, costing $80,000.  Meanwhile, Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Service (RAF) has announced a new relief campaign called “For Aleppo” in collaboration with the Holy Qur’an Radio aimed at supporting field hospitals to treat the wounded in Aleppo and other Syrian cities which are witnessing bomb attacks against civilian. In a press statement, RAF said that it will broadcast in co-operation with the Holy Qur’an Radio today a session, which will host a number of preachers and those interested in humanitarian and charitable affairs to raise awareness about the Syrian people’s tragedy and Muslims’ responsibility to alleviate their suffering, especially children, women and the elderly. The episode will be broadcast from 8pm to 9pm to collect donations for the relief of Syrians affected in Aleppo through supporting field hospitals and strengthening the capacity of health system in the city and its countryside to rescue the wounded and provide them with urgent first aid. For its part, Sheikh Eid Bin Mohamed Al Thani Charity Foundation announced that it has put its emergency crews on full alert to reach the affected areas, transport the wounded and provide the injured in Aleppo with emergency first aid.