
To help alleviate the burden on host countries, NGOs, foreign governments, and the international community have mobilized to provide relief and aid; however, even nongovernmental support is becoming increasingly strained. However, NGOs and INGOs such as the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation (BTCF), or Tzu Chi, has and is continuting to contribute to the humanitarian aid efforts for Syrian refugees, conducting food and non-food item distributions and providing financial subsidies to the parents of school-aged children. From the experience-based recommendations of NGOs working on the ground, ones such as World Vision, “Refugees need food, clothing, health assistance, shelter, and basic household and hygiene items. They need reliable supplies of clean water, as well as sanitation facilities. They’ll need warm clothing, heaters, and heating fuel to get through the coming winter months.” Taking these recommendations into account, Tzu Chi’s non-food item distributions include fuel, the organization’s eco-blankets made from recycled PET bottles, and donated winter clothing. In October 2015, the organization has held several mid to large scale distributions, benefiting over 2,000 Syrian refugee families and individuals in Turkey. Since 2011, Tzu Chi has engaged in humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees living Turkey, providing cash/debit cards and food aid, benefitting more than 40,000 individuals as of June 2015.


Just as empowerment and dignity are the basis of Tzu Chi’s investment in education, so too is the organization’s model for food and non-food item distributions. Using Tzu Chi’s own 80/20 principle that teaches social responsibility—by consuming 80% of what is normally consumed, 20% can be saved and given to those less fortunate—Syrian refugees, who are already struggling in their own personal ways, not only are recruited as Tzu Chi volunteers to take part and lead in aid efforts, but donate to those even less fortunate, thereby empowering themselves to become givers rather than just receivers.

If integration is key in the long-term solution for the refugee crisis, opportunities must first be given. Aid work must be based around compassion and empathy, with utmost sincerity and respect, not looking at them as merely refugees in need, but as human beings who have been caught and trapped in an extreme and unfortunate situation. Although Syrian refugees are foreigners in Turkey and will, at least for the moment and the near future strain the country’s social infrastructure, they can, if given the support and opportunity, eventually prove to be an integral part of Turkey’s, and other host countries’, society.
By Tzu Chi Foundation USA
Newer news items:
- The Distribution of Food Aid in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Monthly Free Medical Care for Refugees in Bangkok, Thailand
- Tzu Chi Provides Relief After Typhoon Koppu in the Philippines
- Tzu Chi Gives Quality Seeds to 7,000 Farmers in Myanmar
Older news items:
- Tzu Chi Holds Distribution for 900 Syrian Refugee Families in Turkey
- Tzu Chi Builds 528-Bed Hospital in Jakarta
- Tzu Chi Volunteers Give Winter Goods to 1,955 Households in North China
- Tzu Chi Use of Bamboo in Cement Flooring Wins International Award