UAE foundation donates $1.9 million to help Syrian refugees, Rohingya Muslims

UAE foundation donates $1.9 million to help Syrian refugees, Rohingya Muslimsimage

27 Jul 2015

The Big Heart Foundation, TBHF, has pledged to donate Dh7million ($1.9 million) toward three projects run by the UN Office for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, which will go toward helping refugees in crisis.

Dh5 million ($1.4 million) will go toward healthcare services for Syrian refugees in Zaatari Camp in Jordan, one million will be dispensed to Syrian refugees in vulnerable situations as assessed by the UNHCR and another one million will go to support the work of the UNHCR in Indonesia where thousands of Rohingya Muslims are fleeing persecution and risking their lives on unseaworthy vessels or at the hands of human traffickers.

TBHF health clinic offers primary healthcare services and facilities to approximately 46,080 Syrian refugees from a population of over 80,000 living in Zaatari Camp.

Mariam al-Hammadi, Director of Salam Ya Seghar, a TBHF initiative to improve the welfare of refugee children, said, “Under the guidance and inspirational leadership of Shaikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed al-Qasimi, wife of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the Big Heart Foundation seeks to alleviate the suffering of those affected by wars and disaster and to enable them to look forward with hope. The clinic now provides comprehensive primary, mental, and reproductive healthcare services to camp residents on a 24-hour basis.”

In 2014, 175,968 consultations were carried out to residents of Zaatari and over 15,000 patients were referred for secondary or tertiary care.

A further Dh1 million ($270,000) has been pledged by TBHF to help over 2000 vulnerable Syrian refugee families living in urban areas in Jordan. Cash assistance will be given to them to help with urgent needs such as paying their rent, buying food, fuel or clothes. The UNHCR currently supports 21,000 families with cash allowances and aims to increase this number to 25,000 families by the end of 2015. Beneficiaries are wide spread throughout the country, with one third living in the Amman Governorate (33 per cent), over one quarter in Irbid (28 per cent), 15 per cent in Mafraq, and 10 per cent in Zarqa.

Furthermore, following an appeal by the UNHCR, the TBHF has pledged Dh1 million ($270,000) to help Rohingya Muslim refugees in Indonesia. Earlier this year the UNHCR said that the plight of Rohingya people could lead to a humanitarian crisis and appealed for help with a campaign to improve the situation.

The UNHCR appeal is structured in three parts: meeting the international protection needs of people who have been rescued at sea and disembarked in this situation; enhancing the information available both to people who are considering travel by sea and to those responding to them and lastly, finding solutions for addressing the root causes of these movements in source countries.

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