Helping Syrian refugees in Europe
An Islamic Help team has started emergency aid distributions to Syrian refugees seeking shelter on the Greek island of Lesvos.
An emergency appeal was launched by Islamic Help and Medical Relief International (MRI) to help some of the 125,000 refugees who arrived in Lesvos during October - a number that is growing as an estimated 2,000 refugees arrive on the island daily.
Many have undertaken perilous sea voyages and put their lives in the hands of human traffickers. The desperate refugees include children, pregnant women, mothers with new-borns, the disabled and the elderly.
The Moira facility has a capacity of 700 people but is full, so tents and makeshift shelters have sprung up around it, bringing the number of refugees in that area to almost 3,000.
As part of the emergency aid programme, the Islamic Help and MRI team has distributed water, food and rainwear to protect families from the elements at the Moria camp. Much of the work has been carried out at night at the request of the camp authorities.
In one instance, while a distribution was carried out during torrential rain and heavy winds, the team came across a refugee family with a disabled child sleeping outside and found them places in a shelter. As well as further distributions of food and water, the team is also planing a soup kitchen providing hot tea and soup for refugees.
More than 11 million people have been displaced by the conflict in Syria.
Since the start of 2015 over 800,000 refugees have crossed the Mediterranean to seek safety and shelter in European countries.
You can support our emergency appeal to help Syrian refugees arriving in Europe. Read more and donate here.
