​Aid organisation says donations are vital to help those caught up in bloody conflict

Donations from generous Scots are providing crucial, life-saving aid to thousands of desperate Syrian refugees who are now homeless and hungry in Lebanon.

The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) has given £450,000 for food, clothes, blankets, mattresses, medical care, counselling, and money for rent for the most vulnerable refugees who now live in poverty having fled the ongoing Syrian civil war.

Working with its partner Caritas Lebanon, SCIAF is a major contributor to the Caritas response which has spent £1.2million in Lebanon to date.

Since the bloody conflict started in March 2011, over one million Syrians have crossed the border into Lebanon, putting huge pressure on local services including housing, and health.

The United Nations reported last week that the total number of refugees who have escaped Syria has topped three million.

Nobody should be under any illusion – refugees’ lives are on the line and money given to SCIAF is helping to keep them alive. This is a desperate situation

SCIAF has also given £275,000 for refugee aid in Jordan and £113,000 for people in Syria.

Money given to SCIAF’s Syrian Refugee Emergency Appeal has enabled Caritas Lebanon to provide emergency aid to over 243,500 people, including 122,436 children.

When the crisis first hit, the Scottish Bishops directed SCIAF to respond and £250,000 was provided from the charity’s Emergency Response Fund. An emergency appeal was then launched which has raised over £560,000 schools, parishes and individuals across Scotland.

Alistair Dutton, SCIAF’s director, said: “Through their support for SCIAF, the Scottish people are playing a crucial role in getting desperately needed emergency aid to thousands of destitute Syrians who now find themselves homeless and hungry in Lebanon.

“With no end in sight for this merciless war, more people need help than ever before, and those who are already in Lebanon and other neighbouring countries like Jordan need our ongoing support.

“Nobody should be under any illusion – refugees’ lives are on the line and money given to SCIAF is helping to keep them alive. This is a desperate situation.

“I want to thank everyone who has supported our Syrian refugee appeal and would urge people to continue to give whatever they can to help us deal with this terrible crisis.”