Edinburgh charity needs donations of clothes, blankets and money to relieve 'extreme misery' in Idlib, Syria

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in Idlib.

An Edinburgh-based charity is appealing for donations towards its work in Syria and Lebanon as violence and cold weather cause ‘extreme human misery’.

Edinburgh Direct Aid (EDA) needs donations of money, clothes, footwear, blankets and good sleeping bags for a shipping container of supplies to be sent to Idlib, Syria on February 27.

Monetary donations will go towards heating oil and other supplies easier to buy on the ground than get past customs, as well as paying for shipping containers to transport goods to Syria.

Refugee tents in Idlib.

Thousands of people have been killed in Idlib in the most recent assault by Russian-backed Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Many of them have been women and children who fled other areas of Syria affected by the conflict which has dragged on since 2011, believing they would be safe there.

Huge numbers are now fleeing their homes again with the UN estimating that 900,000 people have been displaced since December.

The border with nearby Turkey has been closed, as the country will not take more than the 3.5 million Syrian refugees already there.

Tents in water in Idlib.

It is these refugees which EDA hopes to bring aid to.

“People are fleeing to the south from continuing attacks from Assad,” said EDA chairman Denis Rutovitz.

“They’re being forced to camp wherever they can.

“We need donations of money mostly, and also warm clothes and good sleeping bags.

Snow-covered tents in Arsal.

“We’re doing what we can. There are other organisations out there but as far as I know we’re the only Scottish charity on the ground.”

EDA has one regular staff member in Syria, also a refugee.

The charity works with Hand in Hand, a UK charity delivering aid to people in Syria.

“Access to Syria itself is very difficult so it’s better to work with people on the ground,” said Mr Rutovitz.

While it has been working in Idlib for a month, EDA has been operating for 15 years in Lebanon.

The charity is asking for donations to help people in Arsal, Lebanon recover from recent storms.

At an altitude higher than Ben Nevis, people there are struggling to survive in tents and makeshift shelters covered by snow, as well as facing rising prices and road closures.

EDA is currently working on the ground to help people re-erect tents and dig drainage ditches, as well as supplying heating oil and food.

There has been a slight thaw in temperatures recently, but that brings its own challenges of damp in tents and risk of flooding.

Long-term, EDA also runs schools and training in refugee camps.

It has supplied text books, school benches and fuel to many schools run by refugees, and has built a school in Damascus and another in Wadi Atar.

Mr Rutovitz added: “The situation is so desperate, in Arsal because of the winter conditions and in Idlib because of the violence, that we should all do whatever we can to try to alleviate this extreme human misery. Edinburgh Direct Aid would greatly appreciate any help given.”