Caritas-Basra Quickly Using Up Its Aid Reserves

ROME, MARCH 31, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Caritas centers in Basra report that more than half of their emergency aid has already been allocated to people affected by the Iraqi war.

Although the water supply has been restored for half the population of Basra, there is still a risk of infections for people in urban areas who do not have access to potable water, interrupted since the bombings began.

Caritas personnel in the north of the country also reported new population movements.

The Assyrian Church in Duhok said over the weekend that numerous groups from the center of the country have settled in several areas of the region.

Many of the displaced have been given accommodation by local families, while others have been housed in schools and mosques.

Officials of the Chaldean Diocese of Zakho told Caritas personnel that several hundred families from Baghdad have arrived in the area over the past few days. They have been given shelter in churches, mosques and schools.

Caritas teams in Zakho and Duhok are coordinating with the Assyrian and Chaldean bishops to offer humanitarian aid to displaced peoples.

ZENIT Daily dispatch - The World Seen from Rome
31. mars 2003