Support is sought for the Syrians

Imagine if you were forced to leave your home?

Given no option but to pack everything into one bag, and to leave Banbridge behind?

By foot. In winter.

With nothing more than a mobile phone or a suitcase full of clothes to trade for food?

That is exactly the situation that that more than 500,000 Syrians have been forced into.

Every night, 3 to 4,000 people flee the war-torn nation for the safety of neighbouring countries. On one evening alone, three and a half thousand people recently crossed into Jordan.

Into Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan they continue to pour, in search of safety and shelter from the bombs and bullets that have killed 60,000 of their brothers, sisters, parents and children.

Their homes destroyed and lives shattered, they are eking out an existence, in homes and camps with no heating or furniture during one of the most brutal winters in the last two decades.

Should this really be the fate of ordinary, innocent people? To swap one misery for another, with their families struggling for support and feeling abandoned?

We urgently need to bolster the aid response to get help to the growing numbers of people in desperate need.

From the UK to ordinary individuals the length and breadth of Northern Ireland, I urge people to give what they can in that spirit of generosity towards others in crisis for which we are renowned the world over.

Along with local organisations Oxfam is trying to help thousands of families through this difficult winter period; but we could do so much more with your support.

We cannot put an end to the fighting. But with the right determination and resources, we can help make things better for the many Syrian families who have lost almost everything.

Yours sincerely,

Jim Clarken

Chief Executive Oxfam Ireland