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ISTANBUL, TURKEY November 3, 2022 — Baitulmaal, a Dallas-based international humanitarian nonprofit, recently distributed school supplies to 300 Uyghur refugee children living in Istanbul, Turkey.
Items such as school uniforms, shoes, backpacks, and stationary were customized and provided to 115 girls and 185 boys. The children attend various primary and middle schools in Istanbul after relocating to Turkey as refugees from their native Xinjiang in the north-west of China.
According to Elizabeth Sohail, program manager at Baitulmaal, many of these children were separated from their families, leaving behind one or both parents, siblings, grandparents and extended family.
“There are many children who are facing the unknown,” Sohail said. “Being able to provide school supplies helps provide a measure of comfort and hope in an otherwise difficult situation.”
A recent report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) raised concerns over “serious human rights violations” against the Uyghur and other ethnic, primarily Muslim communities in China. Reports of mosques being destroyed, forced sterilization, and the detention of an estimated 1 million Uyghurs in Chinese internment camps led the U.S. to declare the situation a genocide last year. An estimated 50,000 Uyghurs fled persecution in their native homeland and sought refuge in Turkey.
Baitulmaal recently provided seasonal food assistance to Uyghur families living in Turkey and will be distributing winter relief kits to Uyghur families in need. To learn more about or contribute to these projects, please visit Baitulmaal.org.
Baitulmaal is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides life-saving, life-sustaining and life-enriching aid to people in need around the world. With headquarters in Texas, the charity has domestic offices and representatives in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey as well as international offices in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East.
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