WHILE the world debates a deal for ceasing hostilities in Syria, aid agencies including Cornwall-based ShelterBox are mobilising to take aid from Turkey into camps for the displaced, and to the city of Aleppo.

Helston-based ShelterBox has arranged the delivery of 750 tents and 2,000 shelter kits to ease the suffering of families caught at the Turkish border, and those left behind in the ruins of Aleppo.

A response team has been working in the Turkish border city of Gaziantep for the last week, and has now secured partnership deals with colleague agencies to source aid within Turkey, and deliver it to vulnerable people fleeing fighting and bombing in the territory around Aleppo, formerly Syria’s most populated city.

Long term partners Hand in Hand for Syria will distribute 750 large UN-specification tents, 500 to those displaced in Idleb governorate and 250 to Aleppo governorate. In a separate deal 2,000 kits containing blankets, mattresses and waterproof tarpaulins will be purchased locally within Turkey, then distributed by aid partners ReliefAid within Aleppo city.

ShelterBox Operations Coordinator Sam Hewett headed up the charity’s arrangements in Turkey.

He said: ’This is a desperate humanitarian crisis, and agencies are moving very quickly to reach the newly displaced, and support those inside Aleppo city in case its 300,000 inhabitants are completely cut off by the encircling frontline.’

’This is a chain of response that starts with our generous donors, through our well-practiced shelter and disaster relief system, and ends with our experienced partners providing warmth and shelter to families in great need. I want to thank every link in that chain for rising to the challenge so quickly, and assure them that ShelterBox will continue finding ways to reach people affected by one of the world’s worst conflicts.’

UN figures show that half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22 million citizens has now fled their homes. 11 million people is the equivalent of the population of Greece, Portugal or Belgium. UNICEF says that an estimated 2 million children are trapped in areas under military siege, beyond the reach of aid agencies.