The aid group slated to receive $2 million in funding to provide medical supplies to crisis-torn Syria said it regrets the Canadian government’s decision to reverse its pledge.
Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa Friday, representatives for Canadian Relief for Syria suggested that no explanation has been given for the funding reversal.
“Canadian Relief for Syria regrets the Canadian government’s reverse decision to send medical aid to Syria via CRS,” Aman Sharma, a board member, said.
Just two days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he'd been told that government officials did their “due diligence” in choosing Canadian Relief for Syria to distribute the aid, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Wednesday that Ottawa won’t be giving money to the group.
Baird cited concerns that the aid would fund “things like warehouses and infrastructure” rather than wounded civilians.
He had announced Ottawa’s $2-million contribution to Syrian relief efforts last week.
Vice-president of Canadian Relief for Syria, Dr. Anas Al Kassem, said Friday the department of Foreign Affairs has not clarified the reason for pulling the funding.
“They did their due diligence and they know that we have a good reputation.”
Al Kassem, who has worked with CRS in Syria several times, said that for the wounded “the situation is unbelievably bad.”
He described how in one field hospital, doctors once performed four amputations in one day.
“We see lots of horrible stories every day. One day I did not have any morphine, I did not have any narcotics, and we had to do amputations with tablets,” he said.
“[The $2 million] would have helped a lot to lift the suffering of these wounded patients.”
