Islamic Relief & Muslim Aid
Islamic Relief Worldwide, established in 1984, have spent £378,000 to help the refugees in Albania. This includes two plane loads of food, medicine, clothes, blankets and tents - one already sent last week to Albania and one plane load to be sent this weekend. They have allocated £1.25 million to be spent for the next six months. Islamic Relief are currently fully responsible to providing food, clothing, bedding, medical supplies, as well as meeting the accommodation needs of about 5,000 refugees at a camp in Shkodre, Albania's 2nd City. Islamic Relief already has a permanent base in Albania, established in 1992 and has been working to help the refugees since June 1998 when the refugees began arriving into Albania because of 'ethnic cleansing' by the Serbs.
Another Muslim charity, Muslim Aid, which was established in 1985, announced on April 13, that it has allocated an additional £500,000, bringing a total of £1 million allocated for the Kosovar refugees in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro. It had allocated £500,000 on March 31 for the humanitarian help. It has already distributed £110,000 worth of food and medicines. Muslim Aid is working closely with local organisation in the distribution of its aid.
Muslim Aid received £10,000 donation for the relief effort from Dr Richard Stone, on behalf of Jewish Racial Equality Council and Maimonides Foundation. He said he was "immensely impressed with the efforts of the Muslim community in raising substantial funds for the refugees which was not known by the community at large". Other donations totalling £42,260 received on April 13, came from various mosques in the UK.
Over half a million Kosovars have been made refugees and both Islamic Relief and Muslim Aid are appealing for more donations.
