Red Cross pleads for Syria donations Red Cross Australia has made a plea to Australians to help Syrians displaced by the civil war. THE CEO of Red Cross Australia has made a personal plea to Australians to "act on their compassion" and help Syrian civilians displaced by the country's humanitarian crisis. Robert Tickner says the not-for-profit organisation's Syria Crisis 2012 Appeal has raised just over $200,000 in a year. "It's a pretty small response so far," Mr Tickner told AAP. It's tiny compared to many comparable humanitarian crisis events in the past. He described the ongoing civil conflict in Syria as a "forgotten tragedy" that rarely makes it home to the breakfast tables of the public. "Even though we see so much on our TV screens, I think the challenge is to bring home the reality to Australians of just how much people are suffering," he said. Imagine if you lived in a street where most houses had been bombed, where your neighbours fled. More than two million civilians have fled the war-torn country, with over half of them children, according the United Nations refugee agency. Almost nine million Syrians need humanitarian assistance with more than four million desperately in need of food, Mr Tickner said. "Australians are very compassionate people, but the challenge is to get people to act on that compassion," Mr Tickner said. Australia can really help a lot here. The Australian Red Cross is raising money to support the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, which provides millions of Syrian civilians with medical supplies, food, water and shelter. To make a donation visit www.redcross.org.au