Red Cross helps refugees in Kurdistan

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued to help hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have sheltered in the Kurdistan Region.

The communication officer for the Red Cross delegation in Kurdistan, Avin Yassin, told K24 on the phone that during 2015, the committee provided relief assistance to more than 210,000 refugees and IDPS, among them Kurds from Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan) and Yazidis.

Relief assistance included improving access to water, food, and materials such as blankets and kitchen sets, across the provinces of Duhok, Erbil, and Sulaimani in the region.

Yassin also said that the Geneva-based Red Cross unconditionally assisted some 70,000 people with cash and supported more than 170 women with the distribution of conditional cash. The women are expected to start their own small businesses and generate sustainable income.

The ICRC delivered medical supplies to more than 150,000 people. The committee's physical rehabilitation services benefited 4,200 persons with disabilities.

The Red Cross also delivered hundreds of prosthetic, orthotic devices, wheelchairs, crutches and 400 other devices to those in need.

Yassin revealed that Red Cross provided psychological help to Yazidi women and children rescued from the Islamic State (IS) group and helped them reunite with their families through the ICRC registration centers in Khanke and Shariya villages in Duhok.

She also pointed out that majority of people who received aid were living outside the refugee camps.

Red Cross separately conducted presentations on human rights for lawyers, the students of the College of Laws and to the members of Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament.