Aid for Refugees

26.4 Million of our Sisters and Brothers Worldwide are Refugees

At least 82.4 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes, according to the latest information from the UNHCR. “This includes 26.4 million refugees—20.7 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate and 5.7 million Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate—as well as another 48 million internally displaced people,” UNHCR reports.

Whether forced from home because of violence, poverty, disaster—the decision to leave the familiar and leave everything behind in the hopes of finding relief is an utterly difficult and painful one. Refugees leave their homes and their entire livelihoods behind because not doing so isn’t an option. They don’t ask to leave; the decision is forced. They didn’t ask to be refugees.

And after every devastating step a refugee has had to make toward a potential new home, the welcome is not always kind. Too many refugee families face heart-breaking conditions, discrimination, homelessness, and worse during their journey.

Every single refugee has an individual story and an astonishing bravery that pushes her or him to survive. And the choice to leave home is excruciating—it’s dangerous, it’s unfamiliar, it’s scary.

Islamic Relief’s Dedication to Refugees

For these reasons and more, the Islamic Relief family of staff, donors, and volunteers make serving refugees a priority, not just on June 20 for World Refugee Day, but every day . After all, many of us are refugees or come from families of refugees ourselves.

From offering a helping hand at border crossings to delivering aid like food, water, new clothes, medical care, and more to give them some relief in their new setting—and for those who have had to live as refugees for years while waiting to return home, Islamic Relief has set up education resources, vocational training, and livelihood opportunities.

Islamic Relief donors have done this in countries across the world, and right here in the United States. Refugees deserve our compassion and our care—will you join us in our endeavor to deliver this important support?

Here’s just a sampling of our recent efforts for refugees:

• Providing food and support to refugees new to the United States
• Supplying urgent aid to Syrian and Palestinian refugees living in camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey
• Establishing educational and livelihood projects for refugees who have been displaced from home for long periods of time
• Sending emergency aid to families forced to flee during times of violence, like those from Myanmar, Ethiopia, and elsewhere