UN announces emergency aid for 500,000 northern Iraqis

GENEVA - Agence France-Presse

A refugee woman from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, sits with a child inside a tent at Nowruz refugee camp in Qamishli, northeastern Syria August 17, 2014. REUTERS Photo

The UN refugee agency said Tuesday it was poised to mount a massive aid operation for 500,000 Iraqis driven from their homes by jihadist rebels.
      
"In response to the deteriorating situation in northern Iraq, UNHCR is this week launching one of its largest aid pushes aimed at helping close to half a million people who have been forced to leave their homes," spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters.
      
The jihadists, who have declared a "caliphate" in a region straddling the Iraq-Syria border, have after two months of violence brought Iraq to the brink of breakup.
      
To date, the United Nations estimates that 1.2 million Iraqis have been displaced by fighting this year, Edwards said ahead of the extraordinary aid push set to begin Wednesday.
      
"Barring last-minute delays, an air, road and sea operation will begin tomorrow, starting with a four-day airlift using Boeing 747s from Aqaba in Jordan to Arbil, followed by road convoys from Turkey and Jordan, and sea and land shipments from Dubai via Iran over the next 10 days," he said.
      
Among the initial supplies are 3,000 tents, 200,000 plastic sheets, 18,500 kitchen sets and 16,500 jerry cans.
      
Edwards said that a key goal was to help those who lack shelter or housing.
      
"Conditions remain desperate for those without access to suitable shelter, people struggling to find food and water to feed their families, and those without access to primary medical care. Many are still coming to grips with the tragedy they've been through in recent weeks -- fleeing homes with nothing, and many trying to cope with the loss of loved ones," he said.
      
"The aid that's coming from outside is aimed at meeting the needs of the most vulnerable people -- primarily at this moment it's people without accommodation who really need the most urgent help. We have to start with the most vulnerable and then expand from there," Edwards said.
      
"This is a major humanitarian crisis and disaster and it continues to affect very large numbers of people. Very much more aid is going to be needed over the next weeks," he added.