The Council of Senior Scholars has called on citizens and expatriates to support the Kingdom’s Syria aid campaign with cash, food, warm clothing and bedding, particularly because of the harsh winter conditions across the Middle East.

Fahad bin Saad Al-Majed, the council’s secretary-general, said the public should provide their support only through official channels. He said Muslims should stand by their brothers and sisters in their time of need, and should pray that God eases their suffering.

The Saudi national campaign officials have continued to distribute emergency items and winter clothing to Syria’s internal and external refugees, through its offices in Turkey.

The project, My Brother Your Warmth is My Goal, covers refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and the northern and southern areas of Syria. The campaign aims to distribute more than 3 million items of winter clothing.

Prince Mohammed bin Naif, minister of interior and general supervisor of rescue campaigns, ordered the allocation of SR 9.37 million to secure heating fuel in the refugee camps. Some 10,000 liters of fuel were distributed from the prince’s office in Lebanon which benefited a total of 200 Syrian refugees in a number of camps such as Prairie, Qadiriya, Musab and Younes located in the western and central parts of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.

Khalid Al-Salamah, director of the Saudi campaign in Turkey, said officials have been checking on refugees in Turkish cities and provinces and distributed around 17,300 items of winter clothing and bedding. Emergency supplies are distributed in northern Syria, especially in the rural areas of Aleppo.

Bader bin Abdulrahman Al-Samhan, regional director of the campaign, said aid is continuing to flow to Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. There are also activities in Dara’, Aleppo and Idlib.

The Saudi government has already spent millions of riyals over the past few years to support Syria’s refugees across the Middle East. There are also special concessions for Syrians in the Kingdom, with opportunities to study and stay in the country.