Few people could have predicted the scale of what would follow when civil society protests began in 2011. Official figures from the United Nations put the death toll since 2011 at over a quarter of a million people, with over 10 million having fled their homes.
Islamic Relief has been responding to the crisis in Syria since 2011, working on the borders to provide people caught up in the violence with essential humanitarian aid. Since 2012, we have been working deep inside the country to reach vulnerable families.
Since the conflict began Islamic Relief has delivered more than $184 million (R2,8 Billion) worth of aid inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, assisting millions of Syrians. We are distributing food packs, clothes and medical supplies to communities under siege within Syria and displaced people along the Turkish border. We are also running or supporting camps and providing livelihood programmes, education and psychosocial support for refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. In Europe our teams are assisting Syrian refugees in Greece, Italy, Macedonia and Germany.
$60 can help a child with counselling services to overcome the psychological stress of war
View detailed breakdown of response (pdf document)
Our comprehensive Syria emergency response includes:
- Medical assistance
- Food parcels and World Food Programme vouchers
- Shelter and cash for rent
- Water and sanitation
- Essential items such as baby kits, blankets, clothing and heaters
- Money to help refugee families meet their urgent basic needs
- Livelihoods and education support
- Psychosocial assistance for those displaced by the fighting
- Essential aid and food supplies for Palestinians trapped in Yarmouk camp.
We also continue to push the international community for urgent action to end the conflict and to secure better humanitarian access in the war-torn country.
Why your help is needed
More than half of all Syrians have been forced to leave their country, while those who remain have often been displaced from their homes multiple times. At the end of 2014 64.7 per cent of the population lived in extreme poverty and could
not secure basic food and non-food items such as toiletries and kitchen utensils. Many are suffering from hunger and malnutrition, and some have even starved to death in besieged communities.
Islamic Relief has been responding to the crisis since 2011. Today, we are working deep inside Syria to help those that most need assistance. We also provide much-needed support to vulnerable families seeking safety in nearby countries, working to ease their suffering and support host communities in meeting the needs of the new arrivals.
At a glance
- Syria is now in its sixth year of conflict
- Over 250,000 civilians have died
- 13.5 million people in the country need humanitarian aid
- Almost 5.1 million children are living in dire conditions inside Syria
- 70% of Syrians lack access to clean water
- More than four million people have fled the country – many of these are children
- 1.7 million refugees require food assistance.