Syrians living in the UAE applaud nation’s efforts to help refugees

ABU DHABI // Syrians in the UAE have welcomed the country’s efforts to help refugees.

Fundraising for Emirates Red Crescent’s Our Hearts Are With the Syrian People campaign, which launched on Thursday after a directive from the President, Sheikh Khalifa, had raised Dh66 million by Friday.

“This is a very timely approach for help to our country and is highly praiseworthy. Whatever the UAE has done is exemplary,” said Saad Rabeah, a customer care services trainer at a private company.

“This is another example of the UAE’s generosity.”

Mr Rabeah has been directly affected by the crisis, with some family members among the refugees.

“My parents and sisters have lived in camps in the northern parts of the country, between Syria and the Turkey border, for the last two years, so I know what kind of difficulties they go through every day,” he said.

“The winter season has further hampered their lives there. They all live without any facilities to support life there. I talk to them almost every day.

“Such generous acts of the emirates will be registered in the history and remembered for generations to come. This is not particularly for Syrians, but the UAE does this to all its sisterly Arab countries.”

Another expatriate, Emaad Saad, said: “This is the biggest humanitarian crisis the world has witnessed after the Second World War.

“I pray for the UAE, and I am greatly thankful to the leaders of the emirates for their humanitarian assistance for our people back home.

“No work, no source of food and threats to life always lurk there. The situation back home has got worse. May Allah shower His mercy on them. People are dying of hunger and cold there.”

An educational and cultural specialist at the non-profit Tabah Foundation, Samer Zagloul, said: “I am very thankful to the leadership of the UAE for launching such a noble drive to help Syrian brothers and sisters. This is not the first time, always the emirates stand ahead in such humanitarian works.

“I would like to appreciate the people of the UAE who are very passionate and kind-hearted and they immediately come forward in such philanthropic activities,” said Mr Zagloul, who also has friends and family who have had to flee.

“The UAE stands for all Arab countries in their tough times as we all are sisterly countries and share language, tradition and culture.”