"The aid will be sent to Syria's coastal areas. The aid was provided by the people of Rojava. Civil and social institutions, and organizations affiliated with the autonomous administration, as well as the Kurdish Red Crescent, have taken part," Ahmed Ibrahim, an executive member of the Kurdish Red Crescent, told Rudaw English.
The Qamishli-based organization, associated with the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), is registered in the Kurdistan Region and licensed by the Rojava authorities. Since its establishment in 2012, it has become one of the largest local humanitarian actors, delivering aid to conflict-affected communities across Syria.
Ibrahim elaborated that the aid is in response to calls from the coastal areas where clashes between security forces affiliated to the new administration in Damascus and armed groups the government claimed were loyalists of ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad caused a significant number of casualties.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that around 1,500 people, mostly Alawites, were killed in the violence, attributed to government or government-affiliated forces. The escalating violence has drawn widespread condemnation from Western and regional powers, as well as human rights organizations.
Rudaw English has learned that many residents of Rojava, who were studying in the coastal province of Latakia, have returned to their homes to flee the violence.
The Kurdish Red Crescent official said the aid was collected in Hasaka and will head to Latakia through Tabqa town in Raqqa province.
The aid is around 10,000 boxes of essentials, including sugar and flour as well as the needs of children and women, he added, noting that once they arrive in the destination, they will assess the needs of people and consider this for the upcoming aid.
Sheikhmous Ahmed, head of Rojava’s office for internally displaced persons and refugees, told Rudaw English on Sunday that they launched the initiative after receiving calls from Alawite-majority areas “who were subjected to a massacre and were in a desperate need of humanitarian aid.”
He also said that the campaign will provide “material and spiritual support as well as healthcare," expecting the initiative to last for a long time.
