A CARE assessment team is on the ground.
CARE is deeply concerned about the influx of around 66,000 refugees who have crossed the border to Turkey in the past days. “This is a major humanitarian emergency, with tens of thousands of people in need of shelter, food and water,” says John Uniack Davis, Country Director of CARE Turkey. With the giant influx of the past few days, CARE is currently assessing needs and coordinating with the Turkish authorities and other organizations to support the newly arrived refugees with food, safe drinking water and hygiene items.
“Along the border, we saw thousands of refugees, mostly women and children, who were carrying the few belongings they were able to take with them. Many of them had spent nights outside and had been walking for hours. They are exhausted and now worry, as they have absolutely nowhere to go,” says Davis, who is part of CARE’s initial assessment team.
The more than 60,000 refugees that have crossed from Kobane (Ayn al-Arab) in the past days join around 850,000 registered Syrian refugees who have sought safety in Turkey since the beginning of the Syria Crisis. “The Turkish government has done a herculean job meeting the needs of refugees, but more support is needed from the international community in order to keep up with the ever-increasing burden,” says Davis.
In total, more than four million civilians have fled the fighting in Syria and are in need of urgent assistance and protection. As the violence continues many more may seek refuge in neighbouring countries such as Turkey, adding to the pressure of the regional Syrian refugee crisis which is already stretching humanitarian resources.
CARE has been supporting Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria since the beginning of the crisis and is now planning to respond to the current refugee influx in Turkey. “The international community must rise to the occasion and support Turkey in meeting the enormous need engendered by the Kobane crisis in particular and the long Syrian crisis in general,” says Davis.
About CARE: Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and providing lifesaving assistance in emergencies. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to help lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. CARE has been working in Jordan since 1948. CARE Jordan has extensive experience working with refugees, providing livelihood training and opportunities, emergency cash assistance, information sharing and psychosocial support to Iraqi refugees since 2003.
CARE’s Syria Response:
CARE’s provision of life-saving services to Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt and to people affected by the crisis in Syria has already reached more than 290,000 people. In Jordan, CARE provides Emergency Cash Assistance for refugees so they can pay for basic living costs, including rent, medication and food. CARE assists with vital information on how refugees can access further health, legal and social support and provides psychosocial assistance to women, men and children. CARE Lebanon repairs water and sanitation infrastructure, provides health education sessions, works with municipalities to improve water supply and sanitation infrastructure for refugees as well as for host communities. Syrian volunteers, who are refugees themselves, are an integral part of CARE’s Syria Response. Alongside Jordanian and Lebanese volunteers, they assist in organising and preparing distributions of relief items.
During the winter months, CARE helped families in Jordan and Lebanon to prepare for and cope with the cold winter, distributing cash, heaters, fuel vouchers, blankets and floor mats. CARE Egypt has started raising awareness among the refugees of sexual exploitation and other forms of gender-based violence to protect them from any form of abuse. Our support to families affected by the crisis in Syria is based on humanitarian needs alone, no matter which religion, political affiliation or ethnicity people belong to.
Read more about CARE's response to the Syria crisis.