Help For Syrian Refugees

Syrian Children Refugees at Turkey

In the name of Allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful,

Assalamualakum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh, and good day to all fellow readers.

I would like to dedicate this blog to my fellow brothers and sisters in Syria,

May Allah grants his help to them in their hardship, and give them patience, they are indeed amongst the chosen people of Allah to be tested.

The conflict in Syria that began on the 15th March 2011, had cause death toll of more than 100,000 by June 2013, buildings and homes destroyed, 4.8 million Syrian had been displaced within the country, and 1.8 million fled to other countries.

The Syrians are in desperate need for our help.

Almost all across the globe, we can see people volunteering and help in anyway possible, be it by donation to buy medical supply, food and other basic needs.
 

15,000 Syrian Crossing the border towards Iraq

How can we help the syrian refugees? The easiest way would be to make donations direct to the Syrians, which of course needs us to be present at Syria, this can be a burden in terms of logistics (transportation and accommodation)

The other means is to donate to the people who volunteers under non-profit organization, or individual. The problem with these method, is most of the organisations are not known Internationally. Also, issues such as the medium (bank) to transfer the donations, which can cost the donator in processing fee. (say you want to donate 5 dollar but the processing fee cost half of that)

I, as a Malaysian, was fortunate enough to be able to come across several non-profit organizations that help the Syrians Refugees. Here are the list of non-profit organization that i know and are currently active as of this August, 2013.

1.Gabungan Selamatkan Syria
2.Syria Care: Pertubuhan Penyayang Islam Membantu Syria
3.Palestine Reconstruction Team 
4.Tangisan Syria Di Bumi Jordan   

This campaign was co-organised by Akademi Ramadhan Persatuan Mahasiswa Malaysia , University AlBayt Jordan, and the guys from fb page "Tangisan Syria Di Bumi Jordan"(which translates "Syrian tears at Jordan soil" like their page here) during the fasting month (also known as Ramadhan month). All of these organisation and individuals are Malaysians (if not mistaken).  

Another Malaysian non profit organisation (Pertubuhan Penyayang Islam membantu Syria (which translates Society of Islam lovers helping Syria ) ) like their page here

The picture below are our fellow Malaysians under the group "Palestine Reconstruction Team" helping what they can to also help the Syrians (they also are active in helping the Palestinians)

Credit goes to "Palestine Reconstruction Team" for the Syrian Refugees Pictures, like their page here

Gabungan Selamatkan Syria (which translates Joint Organization in Saving Syria)

So far, the donations responds are positive, be it by cash or personal belongings that later sold as cash (may God reward them).

We too can make a difference.

So how can we help the Syrian Refugees?

Identify Organizations or Individuals that has access to Syria

Try to look and ask around, you can start by visiting the Mosque or by identifying the local Imams in your area, if there is none, you can suggest to the Imams to make one. Or you can create one.

I will try to find out individuals in Syria (say one of the refugees there) that can be contacted to deliver the donations also on how goods such as foods for example, where are the best place to buy food (Egypt?Turkey?) to be delivered to Syria (maybe fellow readers who have experienced can give their view on this), also discuss in terms of logistics.

Selling Merchandise/Goods

I have seen t-shirts,car stickers bearing messages to save Syrian people sold and the profits were all given to the non-profit organizations.

Its just that maybe the media as to where it is being sold and how the goods are paid needs to be changed, in such that it can be accessed and conveniently paid by people around the world.

Shipping goods worldwide can be costly, thus the items are best be small in size and i can't think of any items other than stickers (car or bike), buttons, and mouse pads. (Any other suggestions?)

I have listed a sticker in ebay (for Malaysian buyer only), check it out here.

Selling service

If shipping is an issue, selling service is another option. (example selling your service on Fiverr, forums like WSO, and etc).

For all the things and services that we sell, it is good to mention the profits will go for donations in Syria, to let the buyers know.

I hope that with our "small" effort, we can help the Syrians, (at least for the sake of the children) and God bless.