Qatar Charity (QC) provided emergency relief aid to thousands of Syrian refugees in the Arsal camp, who are affected by the Storm Norma that hit their camp in Lebanon, benefiting 17,000 affected people during the past two days of the storm.
The relief team managed to reach the camp, despite difficulties due to the accumulated snow, heavy rain and violent winds and distributed assistance as part of QC’s winter campaign entitled “Below Zero”.
Syrian refugees in Arsal, a town and municipality situated in eastern Lebanon, are badly affected by the snowstorm, which has increased their suffering in light of a severe shortage of basic life necessities, especially heating materials.
Qatar Charity managed to intervene quickly to provide relief aid to the affected persons in order to help them survive the blizzard.
The charity has allocated a budget to support those affected by the snowstorm within the framework of the “Below Zero” campaign.
The number of beneficiaries during the first two days of the storm reached about 17,000 Syrian refugees, mostly children, women, the sick, the elderly and persons with disabilities.
The relief aid included heating fuel, blankets, winter clothes and other items to protect the tents from rain and wind, in addition to the distribution of food aid to the affected families, in coordination with the Union of Relief and Development Associations (URDA) in Lebanon.
Jihan al-Qaisi, relief intervention coordinator, said, “Qatar Charity is one of the first organizations to respond to the Syrian refugees’ appeal for help in Arsal. The charity provided urgent relief aid to families threatened with death due to blizzard.” Al-Qaisi emphasized that although Qatar Charity has contributed to helping thousands of families, the situation still requires the concerted efforts of all for the relief of refugees. She described the situation in Arsal as harsh, which requires urgent action to salvage the quickly deteriorating condition there.
Qatar Charity has carried out many relief projects for internally displaced persons (IPDs) and refugees in 2018 at a cost of more than QR85mn, benefiting about 4 million people in various fields.