Heyva Sor a Kurdistanê (Kurdish Red Moon) has issued a new appeal for donations and humanitarian aid for the people of Kobane and refugees across the region. International humanitarian relief in this region has been virtually non-existent and the Turkish government has made inadequate provision for refugees fleeing violence in Sinjar and Kobane to Suruc and the surrounding areas inside the Turkish border. Thousands of people are being hosted in self-made camps and are being fed, clothed and cared for by volunteers.
A recent report by the Union of Southeastern Anatolia Region Municipalities (GABB) gives a useful breakdown of the needs of the refugees in the region, including the numbers of families forced to flee from different regions of Rojava and Sinjar, as well as lists of needed supplies. You can download the report here (pdf). Further information about people’s medical needs and other urgently needed supplies also give you can idea of where the donations are going.
Now that winter is fast approaching and temperatures potentially reaching below freezing, adequate shelter, heating, clothing and food are desperately needed. There is no time to wait – please donate what you can today.
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HEYVA SOR A KURDISTANE / KURDISH RED MOON EMERGENCY APPEAL FOR KOBANE
Since the civil war in Syria began in 2011 the Kurds have been able to keep Rojava (West Kurdistan/Northern Syria) relatively stable. Since 15th September ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has intensified its attacks against the Kurdish population in Rojava and been reported that they seized control of 60 villages near the border in a two-day campaign as they approached the town of Kobanê, Syria’s third-largest Kurdish town.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based institution which monitors the conflict, said at least 553 people are said to have died in a month in Kobane. 200,000 Syrians Kurds have fled to escape the war and more than 300,000 remaining are threatened with a massacre. Kurdish authorities in Kobane have been calling in vain for humanitarian aid and medical assistance.
In the UN resolution adopted on 23rd September, the Security Council sought to break the deadlock in aid deliveries to the Syrian people by authorizing a 180-day period in which relief will be delivered across conflict lines and additional border crossings. However, the four crossings specified in the UN text do not include the border post between Kobane and nearby Turkey, which represents the Kurdish canton’s lifeline to the outside world.
It means that none of the humanitarian assistance, including medical and surgical supplies, that is destined for the rest of Syria will reach the region directly, according to the foreign observers.
The International community has a humanitarian responsibility to make sure that any humanitarian Aid delivered to Syria must also reach the autonomous Kurdish Regions, for Kurdish civilians.
So far we have fulfilled many relief efforts thanks to your valuable donations from all over the world. However, more urgent support is wanted to help save lives and ease suffering in the midst of this emergency. We ask you to donate generously to increase the amount of much need humanitarian aid relief to this war stricken region. Your donations will not only help the refugees from Kobane but also the residents of the 60 Kurdish villages which have also been displaced.
Please donate today and help make a difference.
Help the displaced and vulnerable people in urgent need of food, medical assistance and shelter by donating to
Heyva Sor a Kurdistanê/ Kurdish Red Moon
Donate using Paypal at: www.heyvasor.org.uk
or donate using the bank details below:
Barclays Bank
Sort code: 20 46 60
Account Number: 40 91 23 87
You can also donate via Heyvasor’s Just Giving page: www.justgiving.com/heyvasor
Heyva Sor a Kurdistanê/ Kurdish Red Moon
Fairfax Hall 11 Portland Gardens, London N4 1HU
Registered Charity No: 10 93 741