German Aid Agencies Prepare Iraqi Relief Programs

As the arrival of the first shipment of humanitarian aid in the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr helps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the south of the country, there is great concern and uncertainty surrounding the plight of refugees in other parts of the country.

Workers for the International Blue Crescent report that hundreds of thousands of people have left their homes in towns and villages in northern Iraq, and are now hiding out in the mountains, trying to look after themselves. As long as they remain there, the refugee camps set up along the borders of Iraq’s neighboring countries are unlikely to see the mass exodus -- of up to one million people -- as predicted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR.

Aid agencies in Germany are taking the warning seriously and are working round-the-clock to tackle the looming humanitarian crisis.

Operating under the name "Aktion Deutschland Hilft” (Germany Helps), the nine-strong team of aid agencies has pooled resources to enable the targeted coordination of humanitarian aid to the Gulf. Janina Niemetz-Walter of ADH told DW-RADIO that although their combined humanitarian resources are enough to provide some 350,000 people with food, water and medication for four weeks, they still need more.

There is also concern among humanitarian workers that many of those in need of shelter will struggle to get to the camps set up in the neighboring territories along Iraq’s borders. The Turkish military has hermetically sealed the border between Turkey and Iraq and, for the time being, aid workers on the Turkish side remain redundant.

Claudia Kaminski from Malteser Hilfsdienst (the Ambulance Corps of the Order of Malta) expressed cautious criticism of the Turkish military.

“We are neither helped, nor hindered," she told DW-RADIO. "We receive no assistance in reaching the refugees now.”

Working together

Of vital importance in a large-scale humanitarian project such as this, say aid workers, is the cooperation of local partners, who have can approach the psychological needs of the refugees in a different way.

“They are small teams which try to look after refugees, not only helping them medically and psychologically, but also providing them with a kind of spiritual protection in the midst of this horrifying situation,” Katja Maurer of Medico International told DW-RADIO.

It is this kind of spiritual help which can be of great assistance to those who have seen and experienced the traumas of war. Sascha Decker from the agency KNH, which provides relief to children around the world, agrees that basic supplies are not enough, and that children, particularly, have to be helped to talk about the experiences they might prefer to forget.

Aid on the road

Earlier this week AHD dispatched its first 20 tons of aid, which is expected to arrive on the border between Syria and Iraq within 10 days. The convoy consists of enough medicines, medical supplies and machinery to treat 50,000 people for almost three months, as well as water treatment and hygiene equipment.

While the UNHCR says it needs some $60 million (€55.6 million) to provide aid to refugees, the Red Cross is estimating the cost of its humanitarian involvement in the Gulf at €150 million.

German aid organizations have been holding off naming a price for their continued efforts, given that it is still very unclear exactly how the refugee crisis will develop. What is clear is that they have to rely on donations, which have so far only been trickling in.

“Based on past experience, people don’t start to dig into their pockets until they see images of the plight of refugees,” ADH's Niemitz-Walter told DW-RADIO.

With or without the harrowing pictures of troubled refugees, several aid agencies including Medico International and German Red Cross, appealed to Germans on Friday to give generously so as to avert a major-scale humanitarian crisis.