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Syria

Humanitarian aid, where every day is World Refugee Day

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On the occasion of World Refugee Day on June 20, arche noVa draws attention to the fate of those affected in Syria who have fled war and destruction in their own country. The situation is particularly dramatic in areas which are not controlled by the government, such as Idlib, where arche noVa provides emergency aid. But the need is also great in the other parts of the country. 11.1 million people are dependent on humanitarian aid. In view of the dramatic humanitarian situation in Syria arche noVa firmly rejects the demand of single German politicians to end the deportation stop.

arche noVa against deportation to Syria

"The war is not over, there is no international peace plan and no agreement under the direction of the United Nations. At the moment you cannot send anyone back to the country", says arche noVa managing director Mathias Anderson. "There is no security for returnees. The destruction is enormous, the supply situation is catastrophic, inflation is frightening and in many places there is no housing". According to the Geneva Refugee Convention, refugees must not be deported to a country where they are in danger of being killed. "However, this still applies to everyone who has ever made a political statement during the war in Syria."

Humanitarian aid between the fronts

Every day our local team meets people who do not feel safe in their own country. They live with the fear of attacks and further displacement. arche noVa works in Idlib, in the northwest of the country. Our mission: To help as many people as possible to survive between the fronts. We provide bread, food, drinking water, toilets and hygiene sets. Our commitment is all the more important because Corona has been added as a new threat.

Idlib: More than two million refugees in a confined space

On World Refugee Day on 20 June, the UN regularly publishes historic highs. This year is no exception. At present, 79.5 million people worldwide are registered as refugees. The majority of them have fled within their own country as so-called internally displaced persons. The Syrian Idlib is one of the regions of the world where a particularly large number of people have been crowded together in a very confined space. Around four million people currently live here, more than two million of whom are internally displaced persons.

How do the people behind the numbers feel?

Behind the facts and figures are individual people and their stories; stories of violence and loss, but also of courage and hope. On World Refugee Day we want to focus on their voices.

June 20th is World Refugee Day

For World Refugee Day, UNHCR annually publishes the global refugee numbers - in recent years they have reached sad records. Violence, persecution and human rights violations in many regions of the world have led to peaks in the numbers of internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers. IDPs are civilians who are fleeing conflict, violence or general human rights violations within their country. They represent one of the largest groups of vulnerable people: At the end of 2019 an estimated 45.7 million people were considered internally displaced.

Ministers decide on deportation to Syria

From June 17 to 19, the next conference of interior ministers will take place in the German city of Erfurt. The state ministers will, among other things, decide on ending the protection to those who fled to Germany. The agreement on the protection of refugees expires on 30.06.20 without a further extension. Already at the last conference of the interior ministers in December 2019 there was talk of refugee returns to Syria. arche noVa calls on the German interior ministers to extend the current refugee protection regime, because there are severe risks that those who return are subject to arbitrary arrest and torture. In addition, the supply situation in all parts of the country is dramatically poor.