Al-Imdaad Foundation provides relief to Aleppo’s evacuees

Submitted by the Al-Imdaad Foundation

The last evacuees from the Syrian city of East Aleppo left on December 22 after facing an eight month long siege.
Al-Imdaad Foundation contributed to the humanitarian relief efforts for the evacuees who had left Aleppo for Idlib province in the north of Syria.

The foundation has also been distributing humanitarian relief in partnership with #OperationSA at the Kamouna camp for recently displaced evacuees. Aleppo has been at the fore of the conflict in Syria since early on and has gone from one of the largest, most populous cities in Syria to merely a shell of its former self.

Hundreds of thousands fled the city over the years but a significant number were placed under a brutal siege some nine months ago.  The population was further traumatised with an intensification of aerial strikes in the last few months that even targeted schools and hospitals. Eventually in December 2016 a ceasefire agreement was reached to allow the evacuation of the city.

The evacuation took place in last weeks of December and Al-Imdaad Foundation partners from Turkey, iHH were at the fore-front of the process. The Al-Imdaad Foundation also provided emergency relief to evacuees once they had disembarked from buses transporting them out of Aleppo.

Many of the evacuees had been living under siege conditions for up to eight months and were in a very desperate situation. Global concern about the Syrian crisis increased during the intensification of the siege and the evacuation process.

This also affected the people of South Africa and mobilised the recently formed NGO #OperationSA to launch the #SAveSyria campaign.  The #SAveSyria campaign aimed to generate awareness and support for the Syrian people amongst South Africans.

#OperationSA co-ordinated fundraising activities that allowed the South African people to give with their hearts and pockets.  As one of the key non-governmental organisations earmarked by #OperationSA to receive funds, the Al-Imdaad Foundation’s Syrian projects were also boosted by this initiative.

Soon after #OperationSA’s successful fundraising, Al-Imdaad Foundation organised a relief trip to distribute aid from the funds that were raised.  The trip brought together #OperationSA founding member Yusuf Abramjee and Al-Imdaad Foundation’s Qari Ziyaad Patel for a mission that took them right into Syria to distribute aid to recent evacuees.

The evacuees had been put up in a tent camp that was established in the Kamouna area outside of Idlib city. Both Qari Ziyaad Patel and Yusuf Abramjee were touched by the experience, especially interacting with the large number of Syrian children, whom they described as “the first victims of the war”.

The team entered Syria from the Babul Hawa border crossing on January 5. They joined long lines of trucks waiting to enter Syria to deliver aid to millions of needy Syrians. After entering Syria the team made their way through Idlib province to the Kamouna camp.

They described the mountainous terrain and the cold, wet weather that the tent-dwelling evacuees had to endure. These conditions are extremely trying for the young and elderly, not to mention the injured and sickly. The teams distributed some of the aid personally to the evacuees with further aid distributions following in subsequent weeks and days.

The aid is transported in convoys to the camps and includes, blankets, clothes, medical supplies, food hampers and other essential items.  The need of these people remains dire, especially given the bitter cold of the current winter period.

The Al-Imdaad Foundation is committed to helping the Syrian people for as long as they require.
For more information or to donate please call 0861786243 or visit www.alimdaad.com for more information.