QRCS extends helping hand to 32,000 refugees in Lebanon

Under Qatar Red Crescent’s (QRCS) Ramadan campaign 1438 AH, the organisation’s mission in Lebanon has launched a Ramadan Iftar project for the benefit of Syrian and Palestinian refugees in that country.It involves the distribution of basic food packages to families with special needs, chronic patients, orphans and widow, according to a press statement from QRCS.Many Syrian refugee camps across Arsal, Bekaa and Mount Lebanon were covered as part of the initiative. Also, Palestinians in many districts of the North, South and Beirut governorates received food aid.Omar Katerji, head of the QRCS mission in Lebanon, said: “This year, the holy month of Ramadan comes as many Syrian and Palestinian refugees suffer financial stringency, in tandem with the difficulties of displacement and lack of resources.“In response, we planned to distribute food packages to 32,000 refugees in four Lebanese governorates, each lasting for 30 days.”Hussein Hamdan, programme director at the QRCS mission in Lebanon, said: “The purpose of this project is to alleviate the burden for those with special needs and chronic diseases. They spend most of their scant income on treatment and housing. This is a way to improve the finances of those groups, who are largely not served by international humanitarian organisations due to the costly medical bill.”Hamdan noted that people with special needs are deprived of adequate physical and psychological care, with social integration issues. “Through our project, we are trying to reach out to them and give them better prospects. Likewise, many chronic patients do not receive treatment consistently because they cannot afford the fees,” he said.