UN CERF Funds Evacuation of Migrants, IDP Assistance in Syria
Friday 31 August 2012
The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released US$ 950,000 to fund IOM's humanitarian operations in Syria.
The money will help up to 650 stranded and vulnerable migrants with no other means of returning home to escape the escalating conflict. They will include female domestic workers brought to Syria by employment agencies, who are at particularly high risk. Many have lost their jobs due to the conflict and are now trapped with little or no money.
To date, IOM has assisted 1,035 migrant workers from 17 countries to return home through the provision of transport and pre-departure assistance. Another 83 have finalized their departure procedures and are scheduled to leave Syria once flights become available. IOM continues to receive requests from Embassies to help stranded migrants in Syria.
The CERF funds will also ensure continued distribution of non-food relief items to an estimated 14,000 internally displaced Syrians (IDPs) currently sheltering in collective centres in Damascus.
In the past three weeks, IOM, working in close collaboration with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and partner NGOs, has distributed hygiene kits to over 2,350 IDPs in Damascus.
For more information, please contact Maria Rumman at IOM Damascus. Email: mrumman@iom.int Tel. +963.933311204