Christian charity to start 40 aid projects in Syria

The 40 projects will offer emergency relief and spiritual support top people in the capital Damascus, Aleppo and other major centres.

Father Andrzej Halemba, ACN’s Middle East projects coordinator, said the programme prioritised young people.

He said: “After six years of war, tension is very high. Youth have lived for years in an environment of war. In a few years’ time, there will be a dreadful situation for this generation if we don’t look after them now.”

In Damascus, ACN will pay for school fees for 1,270 students and in Aleppo and the charity will organise a retreat and summer camp for young people.

 Basic food and sanitary items such as toothbrushes and washing powder will also be distributed to the neediest families. Another project will also repair 97 homes.

Church leaders have said the crisis has been made worse by the West’s economic sanctions against Syria.

Archbishop Joseph Tobji standing in the bomb-damaged Maronite Cathedral in Aleppo’s Old City due for repair by ACN

Archbishop Joseph Tobji of Aleppo claimed the embargos are “killing the Syrian people in the same way the weapons are”.

He  warned that migration had reduced Syria’s Christian population to a third of its pre-2011 total, with estimates now indicating it is now…