During a trip to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Michael Landau, President of Caritas Austria, highlighted the humanitarian situation of refugees and IDPs, currently numbering 2.1 million. The enormous influx of refugees is challenging: the Kurdistan Region has seen a 20 percent increase in its population. Caritas underlined the large number of children and stressed immediate needs such as winter clothes and sturdy shoes, but also warned of long-time dangers such as the emergence of a generation without a future. Landau thus called upon the Austrian government to increase its Disaster Relief Fund to 20 million.
Journalists of several Austrian media outlets accompanied Caritas to the Kurdistan Region and wrote about their impressions (German only):
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