An open letter to Australia's Syrian community
To Australia's Syrian community:
We want you to know that these holidays, as our families and friends gather together, we will hold you in our hearts and thoughts.
We want you to know we are deeply saddened by the loss of innocent lives and the devastation in Syria that we see on a daily basis.
We want you to know that we grieve with you for the loss of your loved ones, friends, neighbours and fellow Syrians. We mourn with you the loss of your homes, your heritage and the destruction of your beautiful cities.
We stand with you in wishing for peace, an end to the conflict that has caused so much pain and suffering.
To those Syrians now sharing our home in Australia we say: welcome. May you find safety and happiness here. And to your loved ones still in Syria, and all those who are suffering there, our hearts reach out to them.
Welcome to Eltham will send this letter and your messages of support to the Syrian community living in Australia to them know we stand with Syria.
It is a symbolic gesture from us, to help Australia's newly arrived Syrian community know they are not alone, and feel supported.
While this might feel like a small thing for us to do we have been told by the Syrian community here that it is a powerful gesture.
So please, take a minute or two to sign our open letter, so we can, as a community of compassionate Australians, say: we stand with you.
We also encourage you to donate, where you can.
Here are some links below, but there are lots of others who are running appeals right now.
Australian Syrian Charity: home-grown, grass-roots organisation supporting newly arrived Syrian community in Australia, and Syrians abroad. Christmas appeal guarantees every dollar donated goes to support Syrian children in need. Can currently only accept donations from Victorian donors via EFT.
Red Cross Crisis Appeal: The Red Cross provide emergency support to millions of Syrians every month.
Oxfam Australia: Provides access to food, water and sanitation.
UNICEF: Supporting Syrian children in camps, on the move and in refugee settlements.
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