THE Disasters Emergency
Committee (DEC) launched an appeal yesterday for money to respond
to the "catastrophe" in Syria.
The DEC said in a
statement that, although the appeal did not have a specific target,
its "members and their partners" believed that more than £150
million was needed to respond to the crisis in Syria. It said that
funds were "urgently required to provide aid such as food, clean
water, emergency shelter, and medical care".
The chief executive of
the DEC, Saleh Saeed, said: "The humanitarian crisis in Syria has
now turned into a catastrophe. Our members can get more aid to
people inside Syria, and to families who have fled to neighbouring
countries. We are asking the public for their support. . .
"The fighting inside
Syria makes delivering aid there very hard, but it is not
impossible. It is also hard to show people in the UK what is going
on, without putting aid work and aid workers at risk. We trust that
the public will understand the great need of families in Syria,
even if they cannot always see their suffering."
A spokeperson for the UN
secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, said on Monday that a "political
solution" needed to be found "while there is still time to prevent
Syria's complete destruction. The end goal is clear to all - there
must be an end to violence, a clean break with the past, and a
transition to a new Syria in which the rights of all communities
are protected.
"The sooner a military
solution is abandoned the better. There is no need for more people
to die, flee, or grieve in Syria."
For more information
and to donate, visit www.dec.org.uk