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April 30th, 2015 ― Doha: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has issued an official statement expressing its deep sorrow at and censure of the assault against health facilities in various parts of Aleppo, Syria, as military actions are escalating, causing heavy casualties and damage.
The statement noted, "QRCS, as a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement inspired by the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality, believes that these actions constitute a clear violation of the international humanitarian law that undermines humanitarian efforts in Syria and contradicts all relevant international treaties and conventions".
Citing Article 3 of the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Second Additional Protocol, which stipulate that "the wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for", QRCS is calling upon all parties to the conflict to comply with the provisions of the International Humanitarian Law and observe their legal and moral obligation of respecting and protecting medical and relief workers while doing their work for the benefit of the victims of the conflict.
QRCS has also initiated an urgent relief intervention to provide medical supplies, food, and fuel worth $200,000.
Early in April, QRCS began operating the Al-Sakhour Medical Center, the only health facility in this part of the city of Aleppo, serving its 100,000 population as well as the neighboring districts.
Since its opening, the center has received more than 100 visitors per day, working with a budget of $185,000 till the year-end.
QRCS is providing medications, medical consumables, and surgical serums for hospitals in Aleppo city and countryside.
Mobile clinics are dispatched from QRCS's Injara and Bab Al-Salama medical centers, receiving 50 patients per day.
Earlier this year, QRCS secured six water tankers to deliver drinking water into Aleppo for 350,000 people, at a total cost of $250,000.
Extra five tankers are currently procured to cover more districts, at a total cost of $500,000, in cooperation with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). QRCS personnel in Aleppo are planning to secure 1,850 medical kits, 28,000 liters of fuel, water purification pills, and food items, costing $80,000.
QRCS Secretary-General, Mr. Saleh bin Ali Al-Mohannadi, condemned the raids against neutral medical facilities while working to help the vulnerable.
According to Mr. Al-Mohannadi, QRCS is running 13 medical facilities in different areas of Syria, in addition to six mobile clinics; a community health project in Idlib; monitoring of polio, measles, and rubella vaccination campaigns; and four emergency response projects for medical support.
Last year, QRCS and Physicians Across Continents (PAC Global) issued an official statement against the bombing of their primary health care center in Al-Zerba Town, southern Aleppo Countryside.
In August 2014, QRCS issued a similar statement lamenting its martyred medical volunteers who were killed while working at the Tabka Hospital, Syria. Another statement was issued upon the killing of a QRCS doctor while going out of his home to his medical unit.