Riots peacemaker Tariq Jahan makes Syria appeal after aid mission

A father whose son was killed in Birmingham during the 2011 riots has appealed for more help for Syria after joining an aid mission to the country.

Tariq Jahan helped deliver flour over the Turkish-Syrian border to refugees.

The 47-year-old said he had been spurred on to make the trip by the memory of his son, Haroon, after being invited by the UK charity Human Appeal.

He said more aid was "desperately needed" for people seeking shelter in refugee camps.

Over the four-day trip to Syria, Mr Jahan visited hospitals, schools and refugee camps, where he described conditions as "awful".

He said: "They need food and water, their shelters are inadequate and there were no such things as toilets, just open running sewers.

"People are still positive, they have amazing strength considering the circumstances they are in, but a lot more needs to be done to help them."

Mr Jahan, said the convoy was originally stopped from crossing the border over fears it could be targeted by bombers.

"We were told some lorries had been hit in an air strike and sources within Syria were afraid that we were the initial target," he said.

It was later allowed to cross the border.

Mr Jahan was credited with helping to prevent the 2011 riots from escalating in Birmingham when he appealed for calm following the death of his son.

He was later given a Pride of Britain award for his actions.

He said he had been "brought to tears" by the plight of a 10-year-old refugee who told him she would "pray for his son".

"I looked at her and I was shocked at what she was saying to me because in her situation she had offered to pray for my son...it was amazing."

Mr Jahan said he planned to go back to Syria on another aid mission later this year.

He said: "If I could somehow make people understand the austerity cuts here are nothing compared to what Syrian people are suffering right now.

"The smallest donation makes an enormous impact in their country."