Sikh Organization Pledge To Continue Relief Work In Syria Despite Escalating Airstrikes

HAMA, Syria—Groups of Sikh aid groups continue to have their team members knee deep in the thick of the turbulent terrain of Syria, amidst explosions and gunfire, as they persist in delivering food and aid to refugees there. United Sikhs is one such charity group which has ramped up it’s efforts in providing relief there.

Hama has more than 1.2 million refugees, which is the largest number of people located in a single district in all of Syria. The specific transitioned camps in which United Sikhs have provided aid are: Naseh Al-Wani, Al Bredi, Al Talmatha Al Baitaresh, Ibrahim Hamoud, Yahya Faraji and Kumhany school.

Gurpreet Singh, United Sikhs Refugee Relief coordinator, said, “Our ground team are facing many obstacles, such as foreign environments, lack of electricity and language barriers. With communication being critical our team have been fortuitous to recruit local volunteers to guide them, when visiting camps. In order for our team to distribute food aid we obtained permission for a designated bakery that United Sikhs could use to produce and distribute the chapatis (bread), also called khabuj. Our request needed to be approved by the government office, the registrar, and the local food authority of Hama, Syria. This was an arduous process but did not subdue the relentless efforts of our humanitarian volunteers.”

“I decided to come help those who needed help the most, I chose Syria because many organizations help refugees elsewhere. Those that have money to travel; they cross the border and go to other countries. Real poor, helpless, and wounded people are here with nowhere to go”, he said.

Their other relief mission in Tabanovce, Macedonia is still continuing to feed up to 1000 refugees per day, who are heading towards Northern Europe. By working on both fronts of the refugee migration problem, the scale of this humanitarian nightmare has become clearly evident.

Gurpreet Singh adds, “Our team are making a daily strenuous effort to ensure as many chapatis as possible are rolling off the bakery conveyor belt within the two to three hours of dependable electricity. United Sikhs has managed to consistently provide 3,600 meals daily to 400 families, from what is now our designated bakery in Mukhabej Hama, Syria.

“Once the chapatis are ready our volunteers begin door to door distribution to each refugee household. As this is the only food which is available to the refugees it is vital that volunteers deliver aid without any delays.”

The charity has a donation page, should anyone wish to assist their aid efforts financially, at http://www.unitedsikhs.org/donate.php.