News

Three years of war in Syria: over 130,000 dead, 2.5 million refugees

The Order of Malta’s international relief agency, Malteser International, expands medical aid inside the country

Cologne, 11 March 2014

Syria-in the refugee camp outside Aleppo

As the Syrian civil war enters into its third year, Malteser
International is intensifying its medical relief efforts for refugees inside Syria. Three new mobile health stations are being deployed to Syrian camps near Aleppo, in the northern border region with Turkey, where they will provide medical care for 50,000 Syrians. The organisation will also distribute 50,000relief packages to the camps’ residents, as well as to 1,500 displaced families in the Damascus region, working in cooperation with its local partner, the International
Blue Crescent (IBC).

New clinics bring medical aid, relief packages, food

 “Working inside Syria remains challenging, but the humanitarian needs are immense,” says Oliver Hochedez, emergency relief coordinator at Malteser International. “The camp residents are in dire need of health care, but most of the medical facilities in and around Aleppo are either destroyed, abandoned or operating above capacity. With our additional clinics, those who need immediate medical attention don’t have to walk for hours to cross the border into Turkey, and this could save their lives.”

The clinics will operate inside Syria in internally displaced
camps which will host up to 50,000 people. The camps are located near the Turkish border town of Kilis, where Malteser International supports the local hospital with a 28-bed field clinic together with IBC. Two ambulances will be available to transport patients in critical condition to the hospital.

The camp residents and families in Damascus will also receive relief packages containing food, hygiene and household items. TheGerman Federal Foreign Office supports the project financially.

The inescapable consequences

In the three years since the start of the Syrian conflict, nearly one in
three Syrians had to leave their homes, and more than 130,000 people have died, including 11,000 children. 2.5 million Syrians are refugees. Malteser International has provided emergency relief to Syrians inside Syria, in Turkey and in Lebanon since July 2012.

Malteser International is the humanitarian relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta. With over 100 projects annually in some 25 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas, Malteser International has been standing by those affected by poverty, disease, conflict and disaster, helping them lead a healthy life with dignity – without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Christian values and the humanitarian principles build the foundation of its work. For more information:
www.malteser-international.org and www.orderofmalta.int