ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Austrian government has delivered eight tons of medical supplies to the Kurdistan Region, enough for 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) for three months.
Austria joins a host of countries from around the world that have delivered humanitarian goods to the Kurdistan Region, now host to an estimated 700,000 IDPs, the majority fleeing Islamic State (IS/formerly ISIS) militants following their Mosul offensive in June.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) already shelters 250,000 Syrian refugees and has appealed to the international community for both humanitarian and military aid, as it fights IS militants.
In a sign of the mounting international response to the crisis in northern Iraq, a Russian transport jet commissioned by the German military unloaded a massive delivery of international aid at Erbil International Airport.
This included the Austrian donations, 150,000 euros worth of medical emergency kits, containing supplies such as medicine, bandages, and basic medical tools like syringes.
These packages go to refugee camps through the International Red Cross and Red Crescent and the Kurdistan Region Ministry of Health.
"Austria was among the first countries to provide help to northern Iraq in this humanitarian crisis,” says Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz. “We do not turn a blind eye to this situation; we do what we can. Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing from the fighters of a cruel terrorist organization. Austria does not close its eyes. We are offering our help."
The delivery follows Austria’s 1 million euros donation to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), earmarked for emergency aid in northern Iraq.
Dr. Hans-Peter Glanzer, head of Humanitarian Affairs at the Austrian Foreign Ministry, will spend several days in the region visiting camps and meeting international organizations working on the ground.
“It's always good to get a firsthand picture of the situation, a personal impression to communicate to the Austrian public,” he told Rudaw. “It’s important to generate interest back home, and have some concrete pictures to offer the taxpayers who make this possible.”
