By Ashraf Abdul Wahab.
Tripoli, 13 December:
The Sabratha branch of the Libyan Red Crescent kicked off a relief campaign for Syrian refugees . . .[restrict]on Tuesday evening.
The initiative, which launched under the slogan “they are entitled to live, just as they are entitled to relief” aims to raise money for the several thousand Syrians who have come to Libya, fleeing the violence in their own country.
Alhadi Zawaghi, director of the Libyan Red Crescent in Sabratha, said that his group “aims to raise funds for Syrian refugee families, especially with the start of winter.”
Zawaghi stressed that the campaign was particularly urgent as these families were at greater risk of health problems as cold weather set in, and said he hoped all Libyans would support it.
Sabratha’s Red Crescent Youth also helped to organise the campaign, handing out posters publicising it and calling on locals to take part.
Earlier this month, the UNHCR said that over 1,300 Syrians had arrived in Libya seeking refuge, mostly in Misrata. However, Syrians in the town this week told the Libya Herald that there were 2,500 Syrians there.
The UN agency will be distributing winter packages to the most vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers until the end of January.
Several Libyan towns have sent aid packages for Syrian refugees. In October, Sabratha sent an aid convoy to people from Bani Walid who had been forced to leave the town because of fighting there. [/restrict]
