New crisis alerts from Syria and Congo

 

 

As many as 150,000 refugees have found refuge in Jordan since the start of the conflict 17 months ago, with an average of 700 people crossing the desert border every night, 75 percent of them women and children, the IRC said today in a press release. That’s up from about 30 new arrivals on any given night just two months ago. Syrian refugees are also streaming into Turkey, Lebanon, and Iraq by the thousands. 

 

“We’re in a crisis situation,” warns Luan Meraku, who oversees the IRC’s humanitarian aid programs in Jordan. “In Jordan, the influx has strained resources, and at times goodwill.  There are urgent shelter, food, water, sanitation and medical needs that are worsening by the day as more refugees arrive.”
 

 

Conditions worsen in Congo’s North Kivu Province as over 200,000 uprooted people face threat of cholera and sexual violence
 

The volatile situation in North Kivu Province continues to deteriorate, the IRC said today, and hundreds of thousands of uprooted people are facing the threat of cholera, sexual violence, and breakdowns in the health care system.

 

Ronald-Paul Veilleux, head of the IRC’s programs in the province, said his agency has temporarily refocused its development programs to providing emergency humanitarian assistance.  During this past week alone, an estimated 30,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to violent clashes between various armed groups, he said.