IRCS in Kirkuk needs urgent supplies

A branch of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) in the northern city of Kirkuk is in desperate need of materials due to a rise in displacement around the city and is asking for help from other NGOs and the Iraqi government. "We need urgent help with blankets and oil heaters as the situation is getting critical with the start of winter," IRCS spokesman, Nuri al-Salihi, told IRIN from Kirkuk. With a total of 200 volunteers, this branch has seen its supplies of medicine, food and communication equipment such as computers and telephones, dwindle at an increasing rate since last May, which is severely hampering its ability to work. Dr Yasmin Abdul-Waheed al-Muhami, president of the IRCS-Kirkuk branch told IRIN that there were a large number of displaced people in the area, with some 17,000 homeless people living in tents or in former government buildings, as land disputes between the Kurds and Arabs continue. This has placed a huge strain on resources. Kurdish people thrown out of the oil-rich city under Saddam Hussein's regime are returning to claim homes and land causing the displacement. IRCS workers in Kirkuk added that the organisation's main office in Baghdad has not been able to offer assistance either as it is putting all of its resources into current conflicts in the central region such as that in Fallujah. According to the organisation, there are about 8,785 people in total in Kirkuk receiving assistance from them, including the disabled, orphans, cancer patients and divorced women without financial support. Aid workers say the last batch of assistance sent to the organisation were tents from the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and medicine from the Red Crescent of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Emirates, but that was last year immediately after the war. As part of its ongoing assistance, the IRCS operates from the local medical centre in the city helping people learn how to prevent diseases and protect themselves against unexploded ordnance (UXOs), left in Kirkuk after the recent conflict, damaged electrical wires and fire. Al-Muhami explained that their work also included teaching first aid to those interested and issuing certificates to those who participate. In addition, nearly 20 volunteers at different medical centres in the town have been explaining hygiene issues to patients focusing on the importance of boiling water and how to prevent common diseases, particularly to those who have been made homeless. Volunteers also claim that there is not enough furniture in the centre and there are no vehicles for transportation, so staff are using their own cars. The spokeswoman for the IRCS main centre in Baghdad, Firdoos Al-Abadi, told IRIN that the situation was critical in all areas. "The need is general and not only in that branch and we will always assist according to what we can get," she added. But for the people of Kirkuk, help can't come soon enough as they wait for supplies. "They are so helpful to us. They are patient and kind and I think that if they could do more for us they would," Fateh Kubaissy, a homeless Arab living in a tent on the outskirts of the city, told IRIN.