Manama: Bahrain on Sunday pledged to donate 500 caravans to Syrian refugees in Jordan to improve their living conditions and provide them with adequate means to deal with the harsh weather.
King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa has tasked Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the head of the Royal Charity Foundation, with overseeing the implementation of the royal directives.
“The foundation has started work on providing the housing units for the refugees as soon as possible,” Shaikh Nasser said. “We are grateful to His Majesty the King for his humanitarian initiatives to help the needy and assist the destitute.”
In November, Shaikh Nasser opened a four-school compound that enabled thousands of young Syrian refugees at the Zaatari camp, 80 kilometres north-east of the capital Amman, to attend regular classes.
The schools for boys and girls and their 70 facilities were a great hit among the refugee students, who said that the classes provided them with an opportunity to continue their formal education and were a much-needed ray of hope in difficult social and living conditions.
Several parents said that they were pleased with the school buildings and that they wanted to move in away from their cold tents in the camp.
“Shaikh Nasser was so touched by the challenging conditions he saw during his visit to Zaatari and the warm accolades of the students and some of their parents that he pushed for setting up a centre for psychological and counselling care at the camp,” Dr Mustafa Al Sayyed, the secretary general of the royal foundation, said. “The centre will work towards alleviating the pressure felt by the Bahrain education compound students as a result of the painful conditions they have been forced to go through. In the second phase of the plan, another centre will be set up to offer similar care services to all the children at the Zaatari camp,” he said.
Most of the refugees at the camp near the Syrian borders are children.
The foundation in November signed an accord with Turkey to help build a hospital for Syrian refugees.
