KATHMANDU, 1 Okt — Hujan lebat yang turun pada penghujung September telah mengakibatkan kerosakan yang serius di seluruh Nepal, termasuk menyebabkan tanah runtuh dan banjir besar.

Beberapa daerah terjejas teruk dan memberi gangguan kepada kehidupan harian, pengangkuytan dan keselamatan awam di seluruh negara.

Setakat hari ini, laporan mengesahkan 217 maut manakala 143 orang lagi cedera dan 28 masih hilang. Pasukan penyelamat telah menyelamatkan lebih daripada 4,500 orang dan angka kematian dijangka terus meningkat apabila terutama di kawasan terpencil.

Lebih 7,600 keluarga, termasuk 2,100 rumah berhampiran sungai di Kathmandu dan Lalitpur, telah terjejas teruk.

Berdasarkan penilaian yang dilakukan, keperluan paling mendesak bagi keluarga di daerah Rautahat, Sarlahi, dan Mahottari adalah makanan dan barangan bukan makanan (NFI).

Lebih daripada 5,000 keluarga terperangkap di kawasan ini tanpa akses kepada tempat tinggal, air bersih, atau makanan.

Islamic Relief di Nepal bekerjasama dengan rakan NGO tempatan untuk memberikan bantuan kecemasan awal berupa kit makanan dan NFI kepada keluarga yang terjejas.

Lebanon is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in over 30 years as Israel steps up its invasion. 

Civilians across the country are suffering a waking nightmare as displacement and casualties mount rapidly, including a 12-year-old boy sponsored by Islamic Relief who has been severely wounded in an airstrike. More than 1,800 people have now been killed and over 8,500 wounded.

Local authorities say more than 1 million people – 1 in 6 of the entire population – are now uprooted from their homes, already more than during the 2006 war. Islamic Relief aid workers report increasingly desperate conditions in the overcrowded communal shelters, some of which are having to turn desperate families away as there is no space left. 

Today Israel has issued new so-called ‘evacuation orders’ forcing even more civilians to leave their homes – in a terrifying echo of what we have seen in Gaza over the past year, where similar Israeli orders have forced almost the entire population of Gaza into a tiny strip of land where diseases and hunger are spreading fast. These displacement orders are inhumane, cause enormous suffering and distress to civilians, and do not absolve Israel of its responsibility to protect civilians who cannot or choose not to leave their homes. 

As Israel steps up its invasion of Lebanon, continues to bomb and blockade Gaza, violates human rights in the West Bank, and also begins to bomb Yemen, international governments must end arms sales and step up all diplomatic pressure to demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to violations of international law across the whole region. 

Civilians including children are bearing the brunt of this escalation. Islamic Relief is devastated to report that a young boy and his mother who are part of Islamic Relief’s orphan sponsorship programme in Lebanon have been badly injured during a recent airstrike. 

12-year-old Marwan* was at home preparing for breakfast with his mother and older sister when a bomb tore through their apartment in southern Lebanon. Marwan and his mother were severely injured and rushed to hospital, many of which are now completely overwhelmed. Marwan is now recovering from surgery to remove shrapnel from his abdomen and thigh, while his mother suffered multiple fractures and remains in intensive care after surgery on her colon and liver. Thankfully, Marwan’s sister was not physically hurt but is psychologically shaken. 

Marwan has been part of our sponsorship programme for several years. He has only one functioning kidney and has suffered kidney failure and recurrent blood and urine infections since birth. An Islamic Relief staff member describes him as a “kind and thoughtful young boy whose days are filled with treatments and pain rather than laugher and play like other children”. His father died when he was young and the family depends on the sponsorship money to buy daily goods and pay for Marwan’s regular doctor visits and medication, especially as Lebanon’s economic crisis has worsened over the past few years. Our prayers are with the family at this terrible time, and we hope for a swift recovery. 

The humanitarian crisis is deteriorating by the day and the UN and wider humanitarian community in Lebanon today launched an appeal for $425 million to step up the response and reach more than 1 million affected people.  While most displaced people remain within Lebanon, at least 100,000 people have also fled across the border to neighbouring Syria. 

Islamic Relief staff carrying out daily aid distributions in dozens of shelters for displaced people describe awful conditions with families sleeping in the open air and hundreds of people sharing a single toilet. 

Since the crisis escalated, Islamic Relief has distributed more than 6,434 ready-to-eat food packs, 500 packs of meat, 2,273 hygiene kits, 1,035 blankets, 1,035 mattresses and 16,459 medical items, in Mount Lebanon, Chouf, Sida, Nabatieh, Tyre, Bekaa and Baalbek.

One year on from the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Morocco, many survivors are still struggling to rebuild and recover and need ongoing support, Islamic Relief says. Thousands of families in remote and mountainous rural communities still lack adequate shelter and essential services, and damaged infrastructure such as homes and schools need to be rebuilt.

Working with local partners and local authorities, over the past year, Islamic Relief has supported over 120 affected villages in Al Haouz and Chichawa provinces, providing over 65,000 people with aid such as food, winter survival clothing, and hygiene kits, as well as constructing two temporary schools and setting up mobile health caravans. These caravans provide some of the most remote communities with general medicine, pediatrics, dermatology, cardiology, and other vital care.

The 6.8 magnitude earthquake, which struck central Morocco on 8 September 2023, affected 2.8 million people and killed almost 3,000. It destroyed nearly 19,000 homes, damaged 60,000 others, and flattened at least 580 schools, as well as hospitals and other essential infrastructure. The destruction displaced around 500,000 people.

A year later, some families continue to live in makeshift shelters and tents and now face a second winter of homelessness. Their tents are exposed to the elements of the Atlas Mountains, where temperatures often drop below freezing. Islamic Relief has begun building 300 new homes so that people can have protection and privacy.

Many people lost their jobs as well as their homes, and communities require long-term support. Islamic Relief is committed to supporting people to rebuild their livelihoods so they can earn a reliable living and provide for their families.

Earthquake survivor Fatima* recalls: “I was sleeping when the earthquake struck. My daughter woke me up, terrified and panicked. She was extremely frightened and ran away. Then I noticed the ceiling of the room collapsing, and the wall next to me fell until I was trapped under the rubble. When I regained consciousness, only my daughter’s fingers were showing under the rubble. Thankfully we were rescued and are now fine, thank God, and thanks to the benevolent people who helped us. [Islamic Relief] have donated food, drinks, and utensils.”

Ghassen Alimi, Islamic Relief’s Head of Mission in Morocco, says: “The humanitarian needs were enormous in the wake of the earthquake, and there continue to be significant needs on year on. Thousands of those impacted in the Atlas Mountains are still suffering the consequences of the earthquake and need our continued support to help them rebuild. In the initial aftermath we faced great challenges because the destruction of important infrastructure and roads made it difficult to reach mountainous communities. But, thanks to the generosity of supporters all over the world, over the past year we have distributed vital aid such as food, blankets, mattresses and hygiene materials, and established health caravans so that rural families can access healthcare. We are committed to standing with these communities as they rebuild and recover.”

A year on, the people of Morocco are still piecing their lives back together. The reconstruction programme is costly and complex, and with Morocco particularly susceptible to natural disasters, there is a need for increased investment in building community resilience.

Islamic Relief’s response in Morocco is being done in close partnership with local Moroccan organisations, Al Mobadara Association and At Tawassol.

YAMAN, 14 Ogos – Hujan lebat yang berterusan bermula Mac lalu telah mengakibatkan banjir besar di beberapa wilayah di Yaman. Situasi ini semakin meruncing sejak akhir Jun dan memuncak pada bulan Julai dan awal Ogos.

Laporan awal menunjukkan hampir 34,260 keluarga terjejas, 57 nyawa terkorban dan 16 lagi cedera.

Banjir tersebut bukan sahaja memusnahkan rumah dan infrastruktur tetapi juga menyebabkan sebahagian periuk api beralih arah dan membahayakan nyawa penduduk.

Sebagai tindak balas kepada krisis yang semakin memburuk ini, Islamic Relief Yemen menyediakan bantuan kecemasan kepada penduduk terjejas terutama di bandar Sana’a dan Al Hodeidah.

Di Sana’a, Islamic Relief telah mengedarkan 427 tarpaulin kepada 254 keluarga pada 10 hingga 12 Ogos bagi memastikan 1,778 orang mendapat tempat perlindungan sementara.

Di Al Hodeidah, Islamic Relief bekerjasama dengan rakan NGO tempatan untuk mengagihkan bekalan makanan kepada 511 keluarga di daerah Bait Al Fakih.

Islamic Relief komited untuk membantu penduduk Yaman dalam situasi ini dengan menyediakan bantuan untuk menyelamatkan nyawa dan memastikan tiada penduduk yang terpinggir.

Islamic Relief is horrified at the massacre of dozens of civilians at one of the school shelters where we have been distributing daily hot meals to displaced families.  

Today’s attack at al-Tabeen school in Gaza City is the deadliest on a school shelter yet, with reports of 80-100 people killed and many more injured as Israeli missiles tore through classrooms and the prayer room during dawn Fajr prayers. Around 2,000 young children, women and men have been sheltering at the school after the Israeli military ordered them to leave their homes. The nearest hospital is overwhelmed with casualties, with many badly burnt or bleeding severely from shrapnel wounds, and it does not have the medical supplies to treat them all. 

We are horrified but we are no longer shocked by such massacres, as Israel continues to bomb people’s shelters almost daily with complete impunity and disregard for international law. 85% of all schools in Gaza (477 out of 564) have now been damaged by bombing.   

Tufail Hussain, Director of Islamic Relief UK, says: “It is appalling that yet another school where families have been told to go, and where they hoped they could find some food and refuge, has been bombed. Our staff and local partners have been working tirelessly to provide food to people in this school shelter and are heartbroken at the death and destruction this morning. People in Gaza have become moving targets. Israel’s policy of constantly forcing civilians to move from one place to another, then denying them aid and attacking the schools and camps where they are ordered to go is completely inhumane.” 

The school is one of many across Gaza where Islamic Relief and partner agencies have been providing daily cooked meals to families – often the only meal they get to eat each day as famine conditions and starvation have spread. Islamic Relief has also conducted psychosocial activities such as games and entertainment for displaced children at the school. No Islamic Relief staff or partners were present at the time of the bombing. 

This latest massacre brings the death toll in Gaza to almost 40,000 Palestinians, with around 92,000 injured. An astounding 1 in every 17 people in Gaza has now been killed or wounded in just over 10 months, with every single person affected.  

Tens of thousands more people have been ordered to move yet again over the past few days, with the Israeli military herding people into small areas that are now extremely overcrowded and rife with starvation and disease. Many families have now been displaced 9 or 10 times over the past 10 months and the amount of aid being allowed into Gaza has reduced to little more than a trickle.   

The international community has completely failed the people of Gaza. World leaders must use all the pressure they can to demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to the constant forced displacement and attacks on fleeing civilians, and ensure accountability for such actions.   

Please help us to continue our vital work supporting people in desperate need in Gaza, donate now.