World Vision Taiwan announced yesterday an increase in its humanitarian aid to refugees fleeing the conflict in Iraq from US$50,000 to US$150,000.
The organization made the call following the announcement of a project by World Vision International, which intends to collect US$500,000 in its first phase of aid to the Iraqi people.
World Taiwan Vision urged the people of Taiwan to support its drive to help children and the innocent victims of the war in Iraq, which had already been declared by World Vision International as a third-grade humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, Secretary-General Chen Fung-i (陳豐義) of the Republic of China Red Cross Society, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has stored enough drinking water for 3 million people and food for 150,000 people.
If the US-led war on Iraq persists further, the International Federation of Red Cross will supply food and basic staple commodities for 500,000 Iraqi people, Chen said, adding that over 100 experts have been dispatched to help in relief missions in Iraq, while makeshift shelters have also been set up in Iran, Turkey, Syria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to cope with floods of Iraqi refugees.
The Red Crescent Societies estimated that a short-term war might produce 600,000 refugees, a number that could swell to more than 1.5 million if the war lasts longer.
The Buddhist Tzu Chi Compassionate Relief Foundation based in Hualien County remitted US$100,000 to its Jordan branch for humanitarian aid for Iraqi refugees on Friday.
In addition to the funds, Tzu Chi will also deliver relief materials, including 15,000 blankets, 500 gas masks, medicine and canned food to Jordan in anticipation of an influx of Iraqi refugees.
US-led troops entered Iraq on Thursday moving quickly toward the capital of Baghdad.
Coalition planes dropped thousands of pounds of explosives on Baghdad on Friday night, however, there have been no confirmed reports of the number of casualties at this stage of the war.
RSS