UK-BASED charity Islamic Relief has issued an appeal to the public to help fund an emergency relief operation in Indonesia. An earthquake on Sunday, 5th August, centred on the island of Lombok, has killed around 100 people. Others have been injured and/or displaced.
A small team from Islamic Relief is already in Indonesia and has been working with Konsepsi, a local partner – which has been able to collect data on the situation on the ground. Zul Ashfi, Humanitarian Programme Coordinator for Islamic Relief in Indonesia, reported that people were sleeping in the open air, having abandoned their homes and possessions.
Islamic Relief has been helping rescue injured people from where they were hurt and get them to hospital. It has also distributed a range of emergency supplies: food, clean water, emergency hygiene kits and materials which can be used to provide emergency temporary shelters. It will be monitoring the situation and tailoring its aid according to people’s needs as the Island comes to terms with what has happened and tries to rebuild its future.
Islamic Relief’s Country Director in Indonesia, Nanang Dirja, said, “Many areas are inaccessible so the death toll will unfortunately be much higher than is currently being reported. There are thousands of people who have not received any aid at all. There are massive needs on the ground; mainly clean water, food, shelter and mosquito nets. Many houses have collapsed and people are sleeping in the open air. Thankfully it’s not raining, but it will be soon and that will be a massive problem for all those who have lost their homes, and for the aid efforts.”
•To donate to Islamic Relief and for more information about their current appeals, go to: https://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/current-appeals/
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