IRAQ-RELIGION/IRAQ-ARBIL IFTAR Iraqi charity hosts iftar meal for the displaced

Record ID: 152082

  • Title: IRAQ-RELIGION/IRAQ-ARBIL IFTAR Iraqi charity hosts iftar meal for the displaced
  • Date: 24th June 2015
  • Summary: ERBIL, IRAQ (JUNE 22, 2015) (REUTERS) PEOPLE GETTING OFF THE BUS BANNER ON BUS READING (Arabic): "AL-SHEIKH KHAMIS AL-KHANJAR'S RAMADAN TENT OFFERING FREE MEALS FOR DISPLACED AND LOCAL PEOPLE DURING THE BLESSED MONTH OF RAMADAN (FREE TRANSPORTATION)" PEOPLE WALKING INTO BUILDING FOR IFTAR WOMEN WALKING INTO BUILDING TO HAVE IFTAR SHEETS SPREAD OUT ON FLOOR WITH FOOD ON THE
  • Embargoed: 9th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB4KL9KDKLQU58H7O1G6W570FX
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hundreds of displaced Iraqis who fled their homes to escape attacks by the militants of the Islamic State are gathering for a collective iftar in Erbil.
    Among the food on offer for free here is soup, dates, rice and meat as well as desserts including fruit and baklava.
    The free meal is available every evening during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
    For some internally displaced Iraqis, like Waleed Khaled Taha, it isn't only the free food here that offers comfort, but the opportunity to come together with other people who have also been uprooted from their homes.
    "It is well known that the displaced had no jobs and no salaries and rents are very high. Thank God, we have come today for this nice initiative, the collective free iftar, which is organised daily during the month of Ramadan by Sheikh Khamis al-Khanjar. It is a nice initiative as, it gives us a chance to meet displaced people from other provinces," Taha said.
    For a man from Anbar, Ziyad Ali, this collective iftar gives a sense that the displaced of Iraq have not been forgotten.
    "We come to this Ramadan tent and we feel that there are people who are thinking of the displaced people and want to alleviate their suffering. There are good people who are helping the displaced," said Ali.
    The collective iftar is organized by Khamis al-Khanjar Institution for Development, said Moussa Ibrahim Elewi who works at the Relief Department of the institution that is funded by Sheikh Khamis al-Khanjar, a wealthy Iraqi businessman.
    "Al-Khanjar Institution for Development is organising daily iftar during the month of Ramadan for displaced people from all the troubled provinces and areas. This tent receives daily more than 500 people, in addition there is a hall dedicated for women," said Elewi.
    According to the United Nations, more than three million Iraqis have been displaced across Iraq since June, when the north's biggest city, Mosul, fell to Sunni insurgents who have harried Shi'ite Turkmen and Shabaks, Yezidis and Christians.
    The UN launched an appeal earlier this month for half a billion dollars in international aid to tackle a worsening humanitarian crisis in Iraq triggered by the conflict with Islamic State militants.
    The world body said it was asking donors for 497 million U.S dollars to pay for shelter, food and water over the next six months for millions of Iraqis forced from their homes or otherwise affected by violence between Iraqi forces and Islamic State fighters.
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