Addressing the Iraqi Refugee Crisis in Syria
February 17, 2008
Mercy Corps has already helped thousands of Iraqi refugees in Jordan, as well as tens of thousands of displaced families in Iraq. Photo: David Snyder for Mercy Corps
This month, Mercy Corps will begin work to address the Iraqi refugee crisis in Syria. We will be the first U.S.-based global relief and development agency to receive permission from the Syrian government to open an office inside the country since the crisis began.
The United Nations estimates that there are 1.5 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, an influx that has put significant strain on the resources of that small nation. Mercy Corps' work will address the needs of young Iraqis and Syrians alike.
Specifically, we are launching a vocational information technology training program to provide job skills and computer training for Iraqi refugees and vulnerable young Syrians ages 16-25. The project will be implemented with assistance from Mercy Corps' local partners, the Syrian Computer Society (SCS) and The Union for Arab ICT Associations (IJMA3, or Ittihad Jameyet Maaloumatiyah Arabiya). We are also distributing a small amount of emergency food and hygiene kits in cooperation with a local partner, Middle East Council of Churches (MECC).
Mercy Corps is one of very few organizations responding to the needs of people displaced in Iraq and refugees who have fled. Mercy Corps has been working with Iraqi refugees in Jordan, helping them gain access to education, cash assistance and psychosocial programs, as well as assisting refugees as they adjust to life in Jordan. In Iraq, we are providing 140,000 internally displaced people with emergency humanitarian items such as drinking water, blankets, cooking stoves and kerosene across three Iraqi provinces, including some of the most violence-wracked cities.
Over the last five years, more than 89% of resources allocated directly to programs.