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UNHCR lays on free meals for Iraqi refugees during Ramadan

News Stories, 14 September 2007

© UNHCR/J.Wreford
Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers hand out food on the first day of Ramadan.

DAMASCUS, Syria, September 14 (UNHCR) – At mosques across Damascus, imams used the call to prayer at the beginning of Ramadan to invite Iraqi refugees to share the first meal of the day with their Syrian hosts.

Many of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in the city took up the offer and turned up at various venues around the city after sunset on Thursday for iftar, the first meal of the day during the Islamic month of fasting, prayer and repentance. The UN refugee agency is playing its part by providing some 270,000 meals for about 9,000 refugees over the next month.

The programme kicked off on Thursday evening when some of the neediest Iraqis turned up at mosques, restaurants and hotels for meals prepared by UNHCR's implementing partner, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Many went for the takeaway option and carried their meals back home in plastic bags.

"We know that the hardship faced by refugees is particularly acute during Ramadan. Many are running out of savings, and putting food on the table every day is a challenge that they never would have imagined they would have to face," said UNHCR Representative in Syria Laurens Jolles, explaining why the agency had launched the initiative.

At Yurmuck, a housing estate that is home to tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees, Red Crescent volunteers and members of the local mosque, including the imam, filled boxes of food for more than 1,200 refugee families.

For Haydat, the food was a welcome relief from the daily stress of providing food for his family. His shop in Baghdad was attacked late last year, and he and his family fled Iraq having lost virtually everything.

"It was a nice surprise to get this meal for my family; I heard about it when I came to pray yesterday. I am so grateful. I have fifteen people living in my small home, and today and for the rest of Ramadan we will eat well," he said after picking up food at the mosque serving Yarmuck, which also houses Palestinian refugees.

"It is so good to see this large number of people gathered to share food. We are all brothers – Palestinian, Syrian and Iraqi, and we all help each other. Solidarity is our strength, our tradition. When Iraqis eat this meal at home, it is with a message that we welcome and support them," said Abdullah Ahmed Abu Bakir, the imam, or leader, of the mosque.

Many Iraqi refugees were also enjoying the first meal of Ramadan on Thursday as guests of Syrian families. "Once again Syrian communities are showing their solidarity with Iraqi refugees through sharing the iftar meal at sunset with Iraqi refugees," noted Jolles.

"For every refugee that UNHCR is supporting with food during Ramadan, we know that there are countless others that ordinary Syrian families have helped during the past year. We are committed to helping Syria and its people to sustain this incredible hospitality," he added.

Meanwhile, 389 Palestinian refugees stranded at a camp in the no-mans land between Syria and Iraq also sat down to a meal on Thursday night served by Red Crescent volunteers. The fresh fruit and vegetables were particularly welcome to the refugees, who have limited access to fresh produce in their harsh environment at Al Tanf.

UNHCR started general food distribution to more than 33,000 Iraqi refugees two weeks ago, with a two-month food ration designed to meet the needs of families throughout Ramadan. The contents of the food package were chosen with the participation of refugees. It includes dates, cracked wheat, rice, lentils, jam and tinned foods.

By Sybella Wilkes and Hussam Mukhtar in Damascus, Syria

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UNHCR country pages

UNHCR Iraq Fact Sheet

Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf) residents and the determination of their refugee status claims

Food and Nutrition

UNHCR strives to improve the nutritional status of all the people it serves.

UNHCR Syria Fact Sheet

Published November 2011

Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

UNHCR and its partners estimate that out of a total population of 26 million, some 1.9 million Iraqis are currently displaced internally and more than 2 million others have fled to nearby countries. While many people were displaced before 2003, increasing numbers of Iraqis are now fleeing escalating sectarian, ethnic and general violence. Since January 2006, UNHCR estimates that more than 800,000 Iraqis have been uprooted and that 40,000 to 50,000 continue to flee their homes every month. UNHCR anticipates there will be approximately 2.3 million internally displaced people within Iraq by the end of 2007. The refugee agency and its partners have provided emergency assistance, shelter and legal aid to displaced Iraqis where security has allowed.

In January 2007, UNHCR launched an initial appeal for US$60 million to fund its Iraq programme. Despite security issues for humanitarian workers inside the country, UNHCR and partners hope to continue helping up to 250,000 of the most vulnerable internally displaced Iraqis and their host communities

Posted on 12 June 2007

Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

Non-Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

After Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in Iraq in 2003, groups of refugees who had lived in the country for many years tried to leave the chaos and lawlessness that soon ensued. Hundreds of people started fleeing to the border with Jordan, including Palestinians in Baghdad and Iranian Kurds from the Al Tash refugee camp in central Iraq.

Aside from a few Palestinians with family connections inside the neighbouring country, the refugees were refused entry and free movement in Jordan. Thousands were soon stranded in the no-man's land between Iraq and Jordan or at the desert camp of Ruweished, located 60 kilometres inside Jordan.

Since 2003, Palestinians, Iranian Kurds, Iranians, Sudanese and Somalis have been living there and suffering the scorching heat and freezing winters of the Jordanian desert. UNHCR and its partners have provided housing and assistance and tried to find solutions – the agency has helped resettle more than 1,000 people in third countries. At the beginning of 2007, a total of 119 people – mostly Palestinians – remained in Ruweished camp without any immediate solution in sight.

Posted on 20 February 2007

Non-Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

The UN refugee agency has launched a US$60 million appeal to fund its work helping hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people. The new appeal concludes that unremitting violence in Iraq will likely mean continued mass internal and external displacement affecting much of the surrounding region. The appeal notes that the current exodus is the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians following the creation of Israel in 1948.

UNHCR has warned that the longer this conflict goes on, the more difficult it will become for the hundreds of thousands of displaced and the communities that are trying to help them – both inside and outside Iraq. Because the burden on host communities and governments in the region is enormous, it is essential that the international community support humanitarian efforts.

The US$60 million will cover UNHCR's protection and assistance programmes for Iraqi refugees in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey, as well as non-Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people within Iraq itself.

Posted on 10 January 2007

Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

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