85,000 people fled Fallujah

The United Nations World Food Programme, WFP, is very concerned about the extremely dire conditions for more than 85,000 people who have fled the besieged city of Fallujah and its surroundings in Iraq’s Anbar Governorate over the last month.

Through its partners, WFP has so far distributed enough immediate response food rations to feed almost 75,000 newly displaced people arriving at camps in Habbaniya Tourism City and Amariyat al-Fallujah. Each ration package contains ready-to-eat food to feed a family for three days.

However, in the spirit of the Holy Month of Ramadan, other organisations are distributing additional food that complements WFP rations, making it enough to stretch for a full week.

"The people of Fallujah have been suffering under siege for many months without access to food or medical care. Reaching them now with life-saving food and other humanitarian assistance is the absolute top priority," said Maha Ahmed, WFP Deputy Country Director in Iraq.

"The situation is heart breaking.'' she said.

WFP is sending additional immediate response food rations and family food rations from its Baghdad warehouse, an hour’s drive from Fallujah, to provide immediate food relief to the growing number of displaced. In partnership with WFP, the Qatar Red Crescent is preparing to provide cooking utensils and additional family food rations to the families from Fallujah.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.