Chinese Dig Deep to Help Iraqis: Red Cross Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 29, 2003

Chinese Dig Deep to Help Iraqis: Red Cross Official

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Chinese school children are giving their pocket money and the elderly are contributing their pensions in a national desire to help the war-ravaged Iraqi people,a senior China Red Cross Society (CRCS) official said Friday.

The CRCS was collecting donations for Iraqi war victims in line with international humanitarian principles, Yang Huixin, deputy director of the CRCS external liaison department told Xinhua.

People from all walks of life expressed their hope that Red Cross organizations would take more concrete measures to help vulnerable people in the Iraqi war.

Yang said the CRCS had demonstrated clearly that humanitarianism lay in real action. Staff had been receiving phone calls from ordinary Chinese, who wanted to give donations and workas volunteers for Iraqi war victims.

The CRCS issued a statement at the outbreak of war on March 21,saying it was deeply shocked by the war, and showed deep concern for the safety of lives and property.

The CRCS also called on all parties concerned to stop the war immediately, and peacefully solve international disputes via political means. It urged all parties to strictly abide by the Geneva Convention and other international treaties and to minimize harm and misery. The CRCS and other members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (IRCRCM) would offer all the help in its power.

The CRCS, which was founded in 1904 and is one of the 178 members of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCRCS), should shoulder the responsibility to help victims and refugees worldwide, Yang said.

In recent years, the society helped many countries and regions, such as Afghanistan, Kosovo and Yugoslavia, which suffered from war or natural disasters, with its largest donation totaling 10 million yuan (1.2 million US dollars).

The CRCS would observe the fundamental principles of the IRCRCM when giving humanitarian aid to Iraq, and take further action in accordance to international circumstances, Yang said.

Yang said the Red Cross movement should assist war victims without discrimination, prevent and relieve misery of people on both the national and international stage.

The Iraqi war evoked a severe humanitarian crisis, Yang said. The ICRC sent representatives and medical staff to Iraq, calling for a donation of 80 million US dollars from the international community. The IFRCRCS also called for a sum of 80 million US dollars.

"It can not be denied that war always brings endless harm. The CRCS will always extend humanitarian aid from the perspective of internationalism," Yang stressed.

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