In response to the dramatic consequences of the Syrian conflict on the civilian population, Minister for Foreign Affairs Emma Bonino approved a series of humanitarian actions aimed at boosting the programme of Italian interventions in the region to ensure immediate assistance to Syrian refugees in nearby countries.
In particular, given the minister’s imminent visit to Jordan on 25 June with European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Kristalina Georgieva, an initial operation will bring aid to the many victims of the conflict being sheltered beyond the Turkish-Syrian border, where approximately 10 tonnes of healthcare kits and other first necessity items were delivered today. The kits will make it possible for the doctors working in the clinics and hospitals still operating in the liberated zones to treat weapons-inflicted wounds. Other goods, such as blankets, plastic tarpaulins, cooking utensils, latrines and an electrical generator, will be distributed to the communities most in need by humanitarian facilities that answer to the opposition.
In the coming days, another load of humanitarian supplies will be delivered to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where over 150,000 Syrian refugees are now being sheltered. The dispatch will take place on the eve of Minister Emma Bonino’s joint mission with Commissioner Georgieva, during which a visit to the same camp and the Italian hospital donated last year to the Jordanian authorities is planned.
The healthcare kits earmarked for Zaatari contain medical products and equipment for general treatment sufficient for the care of 10,000 persons for 3 months, and will therefore serve to ensure continuity in the medical assistance provided by the Italian hospital where, since last September, over 62,000 people – mainly women and children – have received been cared for. The materials come from the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Dubai, counterpart to the UNHRD Depot in Brindisi.
Finally, another load of 219 tonnes of food supplies earmarked for the neediest of the population will be dispatched next week to the Syrian areas under the control of the opposition.
