ERC continues supporting earthquake victims in Latakia, Syria

LATAKIA, 23rd March, 2023 (WAM) — The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) has organised field missions to financially and morally support several families in Latakia, Syria, affected by the recent earthquake.

The Emirates News Agency (WAM), along with the ERC and its Syrian counterpart, participated in field tours, visiting 11-year-old Syrian boy Abdel Hay Yassin in Sqoubin.

Abdel, who was displaced from Aleppo to Latakia with his mother, suffers from Leukaemia and became homeless after the earthquake.

The ERC has provided Abdel with moral and psychological support and transferred him from his tent to another home next to the hospital after paying one year’s rent and providing for all his living requirements.

In coordination with the Syrian Red Crescent, the field teams travelled to the house of Marwan Mohammed Salim in Bouqa, Latakia. Marwan lost his wife and several of his relatives during the earthquake.

He told WAM’s reporter about how his home collapsed and how he spent three days under the rubble. The Syrian citizen lost his wife and son when their building collapsed, along with 26 other persons.

“The UAE government and people have supported the Syrian people through this crisis. They sent an air bridge loaded with aid, proving that we are one people and brothers in humanity,” Marwan said.

The ERC team continued its tour of Latakia, meeting with Badr Eldin Maher Ali Ibrahim in al-Raml district to console him and offer support after he lost his sons and wife during the earthquake. He explained that he was in the UAE when the earthquake hit the country and was planning to send his family over to follow him.

Relevant authorities in the UAE helped him finalise his papers and return to Syria, he added, thanking the ERC and the Syrian Red Crescent and extending his appreciation for the UAE’s humanitarian and relief support for his country.

Mahmoud Refai, Council Member at Latakia Governorate, lauded the UAE’s key role in supporting the Syrian people through the “Bridges of Giving” campaign, as well as for providing financial and moral support to families affected by the earthquake that hit on 6th February.

Upon the directives of the UAE’s leadership, the country has currently dispatched 169 planes and ships loaded with 6,377 tonnes of food, medicines and medical supplies.

Via the “Bridges of Giving” campaign, the UAE continues to support Syrians through their country’s recovery and rehabilitation phases by providing basic food and medical supplies and medicines.