Food and camp-equipment for 30 families in Irak

Since June 2014, the population of the Iraqi city of Mosul has been suffering from the occupation of the so-called Islamic State (IS). The re-conquest of the city by the Iraqi and Kurdish military as well as international coalition forces has long been planned. The military offensive started on the night of 16/17 October 2016. Since then the situation for the people in and around Mosul has changed every day, their escape routes are dependent on the respective changing fighting areas. The unpredictable situation poses major challenges for humanitarian workers. Certain places are difficult to reach, massive security controls make it difficult to transport emergency supplies. In the run-up to the offensive, the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has provided 700,000 euros for emergency relief measures with the help of the Foreign Office. From November to February, our partner organization was able to provide 4,700 families with food and other relief supplies.

The unpredictable situation in and around Mossul presents humanitarian workers with the greatest challenges and calls for high flexibility. Thus, it was unclear at which places the most important auxiliary needs would arise. It turns out that different places are differently difficult to reach - depending on who they are controlled by. Moreover, massive security controls make the transport of relief goods difficult and lengthy. This also affects the employees of the partner organization REACH Iraq: On the route from the Kurdish city of Erbil to the Quayyarah Jad'ah Camp, they have to pass ten checkpoints and there partly take long waiting times. The staff of REACH Iraq plan to deliver relief supplies with utmost caution and are in daily exchange with local authorities, the United Nations and the Kurdish regional government.

I thank you for your patience and thoughts towards the people in Mossul. Please support us in our engagement to help the affected people.

Yours

Michael Tuerk