Ruler of Sharjah donates $1million to group supporting Syrian refugees

Announcement came as Amel Association International was named as 2019 winner of Sharjah International Prize for Refugee Advocacy and Support

Dr Kamel Assaad Mohanna, President of Amel Association International, receives the Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support from The Ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammed Al Qasimi. Pictured with Amin Awad, MENA region director for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Pawan Singh/The NationalShow less

The Ruler of Sharjah has pledged $1million (Dh3.67 million) to support the humanitarian efforts of an organisation offering vital aid to refugees in the Middle East.

Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammed Al Qasimi's generous donation to Amel Association International was announced after the Lebanese group was named the winner of this year's Sharjah International Prize for Refugee Advocacy and Support on Wednesday.

The annual award, which comes with prize money of Dh500,000, was first launched three years ago to support organisations and individuals in the region that were working to help the refugee cause.

The president and founder of the Amel Association told The National that the money would be used to help the millions of displaced people living in Lebanon.

“Sheikh Al Qasimi showed incredible generosity by donating $1million to Amel and we will use that money to set up two centres to support refugees in Lebanon,” said Dr Kamel Assaad Mohanna.

“There are 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon as well as 400,000 from Palestine, many of whom are living in extreme poverty.”

Dr Mohanna created the Amel Association in 1979 to help victims of the civil war in Lebanon.

Since then the organisation has opened 24 centres and six mobile medical units to provide sanctuary to the victims of humanitarian crises, regardless of their nationality or religion.

In the last six years alone, the group performed more than 1.6 million interventions to help refugees who have been the victims of war and conflict in the Middle East.

This included offering medical aid and personal development programmes to displaced people to enable them to integrate into Lebanese society.

“There are a lot of crises and problems in the Arab world and the only way forward is to work together to change that,” said Dr Mohanna.

“Amel works with everyone because we don’t believe in discrimination and helping human beings is our main objective.”

Dr Mohanna said there was a massive lack of balance in reporting on the plight of people in the region compared to other parts of the world.

“If someone is injured in London it is headline news across the world,” he said.

“Hundreds of people are killed daily in Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Libya and Iraq but their lives don’t seem to have the same value.

“There also needs to be a fairer distribution of wealth. In Lebanon there are 8,000 people who own half the wealth and 80 per cent of the global wealth is owned by 20 per cent of the population.”

The Sharjah International Prize for Refugee Advocacy and Support is awarded by the Big Heart Foundation charity, in association with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Hundreds of people are killed daily in Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Libya and Iraq but their lives don't seem to have the same value

Amin Awad, UNHCR director for the MENA region, said there was an urgent need to support the millions of displaced people in the region.

“There are 70million refugees in the world and 40 per cent of them are in the Middle East region,” he said.

‘That’s despite the fact that the Middle East only has 5 to 6 per cent of the world’s population and is not even a continent.

“People need to open their borders and offer refuge, health care and education to asylum seekers.”

He said the Sharjah International Award was an important event because it helped highlight the efforts of those who are working to support refugees.

“A lot is being done but it is still not enough,” he said.

“Each year we require about $25 to $30 million in funding to meet the needs of refugees around the world. We only receive about half of that though.

“That means the needs of half the people who need help are not being addressed.”

The director of the Big Heart Foundation said there must be a change in the way people view asylum seekers and displaced people.

“People are often afraid of refugees coming into their countries because they mistakenly view them as criminals,” said Mariam Al Hammadi.

“That is not the case. There are a lot of talented refugees who want to give back to the countries they are living in.

“In many cases the refugees are teachers, doctors and lawyers who have a lot to offer if only they were given the right platform.”