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Many refugees and migrants escaping violence and economic hardship due to conflict and instability at home will find themselves in Greece after crossing the Mediterranean by boat. There are approximately 65,000 refugees in Greece, and around 15,000 of those are in camps on the Greek islands. Canadian Pam Riley is currently working there with the Red Cross, she took a moment to update us about the current situation.

Ridwan Jamal grew up in the Oromia region of Ethiopia with his parents, a brother and his sister. Their idyllic family life was forever changed when political unrest struck the region. Ridwan’s sister, Samira, was fearful of being married off so she ran away. In the resulting turmoil, the remainder of Ridwan’s family was imprisoned for a time. The family didn’t hear from Samira again, and after an exhaustive search, they believed she was dead.

There’s no doubt 2016 was a challenging year for many people who experienced disasters such as the Alberta fires and Hurricane Matthew, or who fled their home as a result of armed conflict.

​We want to cap off the year by sharing some of the most inspiring and heartwarming Red Cross stories from 2016 to show humanity at its best. What inspired you this year?

For the past week, more than 100 personnel from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the ICRC have been facilitating the evacuation of people from Eastern Aleppo. As of yesterday, tens of thousands of civilians had been successfully evacuated in this complex operation.

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world. Here is an update on Red Cross response to flooding in Dominican Republic, earthquakes in New Zealand and conflict in Iraq.

Canadian singer-songwriter Elly Thorn was inspired to write “You Didn’t Even Know Me” when she and her husband were travelling and, although their surroundings were foreign to them, she was struck by how extremely welcoming their hosts were. Now Elly is using her song to help welcome Syrian refugees to their new home in Canada – with proceeds from the song going to the Canadian Red Cross.

It has been one year since we began welcoming Syrian refugees to help them build new, more stable lives in Canada. With your help, the Canadian Red Cross was able to partner with organizations that support refugees across the country, such as the Immigrant Community Support Centre in Montreal, to help Syrian families settle and integrate into their new community. 

Having reliable, practical and up-to-date information can make all the difference for refugees and migrants as they are making their way and transiting through Europe, a journey that is often fraught with peril.
That’s why the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) with the help of IBM recently designed and launched an online tool called Virtual Volunteer.