Charity's seasonal appeal focusses on international victims of violence and unrest
Christian Aid is urging the Scottish public to help Light The Way for millions of people fleeing conflict and violence this Christmas.
Figures show that 34,000 people are forced to flee their homes every day due to conflict or persecution with over 65 million displaced globally, the highest number since World War Two.
Yet it is not just Syrians and Iraqis who have been forced to flee. Ongoing violence and instability in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Afghanistan and Nigeria – among others – have resulted in the huge scale movement of desperate people.
Most stay within their own country or are hosted in neighbouring countries, and a small percentage are seeking safety in Europe.
We are asking people to remember those around the world fleeing their homes, desperate and in fear of violence
Christian Aid is urging people to support its Christmas Appeal - called Light The Way - this festive season, so that it can continue to provide critical support to some of the millions of people worldwide who have been forced to leave their homes through fear and uncertainty in the worst global displacement crisis of our time.
Sally Foster Fulton, head of Christian Aid Scotland, said: “Christian Aid was founded 70 years ago to support refugees in the wake of the Second World War and we continue to support those searching for safety today, including people from war-torn nations such as Syria and Iraq, in Europe and beyond.
“This festive season, we are asking people to remember the families, men, women and children, around the world fleeing their homes, desperate and in fear of violence”.
Just £5 could give an essential set of clothes to a person fleeing violence, £11 could supply a week’s worth of hygiene essentials to a family of five in Serbia, and £50 could provide seeds and tools to help a family forced out of their home in the DRC to grow food to feed themselves.
