Although Aleppo appears to have faded from the news cycle over the last couple of weeks, the crisis is far from over for the people of this ill-fated city.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the ruins of Aleppo, and all of them need a safe place to stay, food to eat, clean water to drink, and warm blankets to sleep under. Many require medical attention. In the bitterly cold winter months, the people of Aleppo are facing unimaginable suffering.
Human Appeal has maintained a strong presence in Syria since the start of the crisis, and we have more than 200 staff and 70 volunteers working in our Sarmada, Idleb and Azaz, Aleppo. We do much of our work in Syria in partnership with the World Food Programme, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the UN Development Programme. Across the whole of Syria, £28 million of aid was delivered by Human Appeal in 2016.
Responding to the escalation of violence in the city of Aleppo, we have constructed a high-quality emergency camp in Azaz for 2,500 displaced people. We have also provided temporary shelters for another 80,000 displaced and homeless Syrians.
In rural Aleppo, we provide 3,500 people with clean, treated water, 25,000 people with cooked meals, and 50,000 people with flour and bread every day. We’re one of the few international organisations on the ground at the present moment, and this makes the nature of our work even more vital.
The people of Aleppo are still in desperate need of humanitarian support. Many families are living in tents that don’t protect them from cold weather, wind and rain. There is very little fuel and it’s impossible to get warm or dry. People are burning anything they can find, including plastic bags, old sandals and other rubbish.
Winter kits are essential, as hypothermia, frostbite, chilblains, and pneumonia are a reality for displaced Syrian families. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable. People are already weakened by the months spent trapped in the besieged city of Aleppo, without nutritious food, clean water or basic medical care. No one should suffer freezing temperatures and driving rain without shoes or warm clothes.
We cannot forget the people of Aleppo, even though their plight may not currently be broadcast on our television screens or across our social media channels. Their homes and livelihoods have gone. We must not let their hope disappear too.
