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| Emergency in Pakistan Millions displaced by conflict |
| Sri Lanka Crisis - A quick response, thanks to you |
| In person with Abraham ABRAHAM |
| Your dollars in action |
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Tom Cavanaugh in Uganda 
Two teams of UNHCR emergency experts are in Sri Lanka helping to protect and shelter tens of thousands of people displaced by the war between government forces and the Tamil rebels. Thanks to your donations, UNHCR was able to quickly deploy staff, as well as organize emergency airlifts to bring in urgently needed family tents, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, kitchen sets, water containers and hurricane lamps.
Your Donation is Needed!
$78 registers 150 displaced people to assess their needs and help re-unite families.
$240 provides an all-weather tent to shelter a family.
$500 provides 5 family survival kits including blankets and cooking stoves.
More than 171,000 people have already escaped the conflict zone, crossing swampy territory and rivers with the few belongings they can carry. UNHCR is providing shelter for the displaced in 38 camps. Yet the overcrowding and extreme heat and humidity present additional challenges. Daytime temperatures climb to 35 degrees Celsius, so people need shelter both day and night. Right now, 8 to 10 people share tents designed for a family of 4 or 5.
UNHCR is globally appealing for an additional 4.3 million dollars to meet the needs of the displaced in Sri Lanka.
A Canadian colleague is part of this emergency deployment and she will be reporting back on her experience in the next issue of the newsletter. Please show your support by making a donation using the enclosed reply coupon. For up to date information or to make an online donation visit www.unhcr.ca/srilanka
Dear friend, People often ask me what it’s like to work for UNHCR in the field, where we do everything from protecting refugees, to distributing tents, to negotiating with local officials, often under difficult conditions. I tell people we don’t mind our discomfort because we see, first-hand, how our work brings hope to people who have lived through much worse: both deprivation and danger. But danger is becoming a reality for aid workers too, especially in countries like Afghanistan and Somalia. One threat is abduction. You have certainly heard about Canadians taken hostage while working for humanitarian organizations. To our great relief, our UNHCR colleague John Solecki, head of mission in Quetta, Pakistan, was released by his abductors in April after two months in captivity. Sadly, his UNHCR driver, Syed Hashim, was killed during the attack. The Centre on International Cooperation in New York reports that 260 international aid workers, employed by various humanitarian groups, were attacked in 2008 and 122 were killed. I can assure you that UNHCR does all in its power to ensure not only the safety of the displaced individuals we protect, but the security of our employees as well. We find it tragic that people who work so hard to help the victims of conflict, human rights abuses and natural disasters are targeted in this way. Reading the newsletter will give you an insight into why our dedicated and courageous staff work so hard, with your very precious support, on behalf of the vulnerable refugees who look to us for protection. Thank you for caring. Abraham ABRAHAM |
