The Irish Red Cross is supporting the families of children from Gaza who have arrived in Ireland to receive medical treatment, the Head of International and Migration with the Irish Red Cross, Niall O’Keefe has said.
Mr O’Keefe told RTÉ radio’s News at One that the four children who recently arrived were part of a plan approved by the government last year to bring a total of 30 children from Gaza who are in need of medical assistance.
“Some of those arrived last December, which is great, and those people are here and they are receiving treatment. And a further four children and some of their family members arrived yesterday and they’re now able to begin the process of receiving medical treatment as well.
“The role for the Irish Red Cross in this is that we are supporting them here, the families, we support them with accommodation and then support them in their engagement with the medical services and other state agencies which they will need to engage with over the next number of weeks.
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Irish Red Cross supporting families of children from Gaza arriving for receive medical treatment
“Under the government’s plan, which was to cover a period of 12 months, 30 children were to receive treatment in Ireland.
Mr O’Keefe anticipates that more children will arrive “at some stage in the future”.
“There’s no fixed date for it, as far as I understand. But some day in the future, further families will arrive.
Mr O’Keefe said having a family member with the children was important for their recovery.
“It’s really important that they are able to travel with some of their family members to support them. We know as well from them that it’s not just the medical attention that they need.
They come from a situation which is catastrophic, it’s very, very difficult and the trauma that families have experienced over the last number of years really is, you can only imagine, it’s been very, difficult.
“The situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, it is reaching catastrophic levels now in terms of the humanitarian need in the country or in the territory. And the fact that there has been a blockade around the territory for the last nine weeks or so, preventing humanitarian access, means it’s in complete violation of international humanitarian law, which is the law that we are all supposed to adhere to. And so the situation will only continue to deteriorate for the next while.”
