Thousands of Syrians Fleeing Fighting in Idlib, PIN Provided Food and Blankets
Published: Apr 15, 2013 Reading time: 2 minutes
In the north of the Idlib Governorate, the PIN team discovered 1,400 families that had fled fighting and are lacking even essential items. During several hours PIN provided the refugees with bread and other basic food supplies including baby food as well as with woollen blankets and mattresses.
Over the last days of March and the beginning of April, the fighting near the city of Idlib in the north of Syria caused a massive influx of IDPs reaching the northern part of the Idlib Governorate and the Turkish border.
The team of the local PIN coordination office in Idlib immediately conducted a field research: “We discovered that over the last days 1,150 families have fled to the villages in the northern part of the Idlib Governorate and another 250 families fled to a newly-established camp in Al-Salama,” says Dagmar Fouskova, PIN Head of Mission in Syria. In February, however, only 20 families were living in the local olive oil factory in the close vicinity of the Turkish border. The massive influx of IDPs started only at the end of March.
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Aid can be sent directly to the SOS Syria charity account
Account Number: 92329232 / 0300 CZK
Account Name: CLOVEK V TISNI, O.P.S.
IBAN: CZ17 0300 0000 0000 9232 9232
BIC (SWIFT): CEKOCZPP
Most of the families had to relocate due to the on-going fighting in the villages surrounding the city of Idlib. The majority of them reached northern Idlib with no food or basic items such as mattresses and blankets. They have to rely on the generosity of the local population, which is struggling to provide some water and food even from their own limited supplies.
“The Idlib PIN team immediately provided the IDPs with basic equipment such as mattresses, woollen blankets (donated by the Red Cross) as well as baby food and packets of emergency food supplies. The emergency relief offered within several hours was crucial for the arriving families,” Dagmar Fousková explains. In Al-Salama camp, where food and water are scarce, people dwell in the open air - under the trees and without even basic equipment to put up any makeshift shelter. “PIN distributes 500 packages of bread among the most vulnerable families every day,” adds Dagmar Fouskova as she points out that the aid is being financed by our partner organization within Alliance2015 ‘Welthungerhilfe’.
Additionally, PIN has alerted other humanitarian actors providing assistance in the area to draw attention to the dire situation in the region while it is continuing to provide the IDPs with essential food items and other aid.