Marco Carvalho
Earlier this month, Caritas Macau launched a fundraising campaign with the aim of supporting populations that were forcibly displaced by the conflict in Ukraine. The donations should strengthen Caritas’ response capacity in Ukraine and in neighboring countries. More than three million Ukrainian refugees have fled their home country.
The more than three-and-a-half million Ukrainian refugees, who have fled the country since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24th, are the main targets of the initiative, the Secretary General of Caritas, Paul Pun Chi Meng, told “O Clarim”.
Pun Chi Meng said the scale of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Eastern Europe calls for urgent action: “Caritas Macau has realized that the situation in Ukraine is critical. All the donations that we can obtain will be sent to the refugees. We are aware that an enormous humanitarian effort is underway to reach these people and lend them a helping hand. This humanitarian effort has been essential over the past month. Knowing the plight that these people are enduring, we decided to launch a fundraising campaign,” the Secretary General of Caritas Macau explained.
“Two days after the beginning of the war, we posted a message on our website. We contacted the banks and set up several bank accounts so people can make their donations. The purpose is to help to alleviate the suffering of the Ukrainian people,” Pun Chi Meng added.
As in other similar campaigns – the campaigns launched by Caritas Macau in the past to support Syrian and Afghan refugees – the donations raised will be channeled to Caritas Internationalis, which will then send the money to Caritas Ukraine and Caritas Poland: “Right now, Caritas is working both in Ukraine and in Poland. We will transfer the amount to Caritas Internationalis, and they will hand over most of the money, it seems to me, to Caritas Poland. There are currently a lot of refugees in Poland. More than three million already,” Pun Chi Meng recalled.
To help reinforce the humanitarian relief effort currently underway, Caritas Macau decided to create several bank accounts in banks such as the Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the OCBC Wing Hang Bank. Detailed information regarding the campaign can be found on the organization’s website at https://www.caritas.org.mo/donation.
The bank accounts, Pun Chi Meng told “O Clarim”, would remain open indefinitely, given the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis triggered by the conflict in Eastern Europe: “The accounts will remain active, even if a ceasefire is declared. Even if that happens, people will still need help. We are not going to terminate the campaign immediately after a ceasefire is declared. I believe that this effort will still be needed throughout the year,” Pun Chi Meng admitted. “These are extraordinary circumstances. It is more than a response to an emergency call. When Caritas or other organizations make an emergency appeal, it usually responds to a situation that does not go on forever. But, unfortunately, the number of people affected is so large that they need all the support they can get from donors and charities around the world. In Macau, we hope to be able to give our contribution and to help these people. We hope to be able to get help and support to those who need it most,” the Secretary General of Caritas concluded.
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