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Episcopal Church Joins Kurdish Relief Effort

Episcopal News Service. April 29, 1991 [91099]

The Episcopal Church has joined ecumenical efforts to relieve the plight of an estimated 2 million Kurds fleeing Iraq in the aftermath of the war in the Persian Gulf.

The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief sent $25,000 to the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) in early April for Kurdish families cramped in the mountains that form the border between Iraq and neighboring Turkey and Iran.

"We are receiving reports from our contacts in the region that the situation along the Iraqi border is a serious tragedy -- especially for children and the elderly" said Bill Caradine of the PB's Fund. "We expect that the situation will require a long rebuilding process."

International relief agencies have reported daily on the plight of desperate people clinging to the inaccessible, jagged mountainsides where temperatures dip below freezing and supply trucks bog down in thick mud. Experts agree that children and the elderly are most susceptible to the effects of dehydration and exposure that have already killed thousands of refugees.

A group of American physicians has described the Kurdish ordeal as an "apocalypse" and warned that there would be a catastrophic epidemic of measles among Kurdish children unless there is a widespread inoculation campaign soon.

The situation is so desperate, the physicians said, that fewer than half of the women who were breast-feeding their babies are no longer lactating, the result of malnutrition, dehydration, and stress.

"The fund is purchasing blankets, high-protein foods, vaccines, and milk for children," Caradine said.

Caradine pointed out that grants from the PB's Fund are channeled through the MECC. "They [the MECC] have the ability to get help where help is needed and are not blocked by bureaucracy or red tape." He added that members of the MECC cooperate closely with the Red Crescent and are personally taking food into Iraq and monitoring the distribution.

Phones are 'ringing off the hook'

Caradine reported that the fund was receiving a "steady stream" of gifts from Episcopalians for the Kurdish relief effort, including a single donation of $5,800 to be used for Kurdish children.

"Like all Americans, Episcopalians are sickened and angered by the images they see of the plight of Kurdish refugees on their TV sets," said Bishop Furman C. Stough, deputy for the fund. "[Church members] want to do something, and as a result our phones have been ringing off the hook."

Stough said that the response to the Kurdish refugees "has been immediate and excellent -- similar to the response to the Armenian earthquake a few years ago. This means we have been able to join the outpouring of international relief -- and we hope we will be able to continue our efforts," he said.

Caradine reported that since the invasion of Kuwait, "We have sent more than $200,000 to the Middle East through Anglican channels."

In addition, the fund has supported efforts by Church World Service (CWS), the relief and refugee assistance arm of the National Council of Churches. CWS has sent approximately $300,000 to the MECC for humanitarian relief efforts in the Persian Gulf.