Ten local Assyrian-American churches and organizations will gather Sunday in North Hollywood to raise funds and awareness of the humanitarian crisis growing among refugees fleeing war-torn Syria. About 1,000 Assyrian families are waiting on the Syrian border in cramped conditions, hoping to return to their homeland of Iraq, said Sargoun Issa, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Assyrian Aid Society, which is organizing Sunday's event. Along with its national and international counterparts, the nonprofit organization has worked to rebuild homes, fund schools and provide medical needs to those in Iraq affected by the two Gulf wars. It's been estimated at least a half million Assyrians fled to Syria after the start of the Second Gulf War in 2003 because of the aftermath of the conflict, including a surge of Islamic extremist attacks against them and other Christian minorities. Now, Syria's current civil war has forced many of those same families to want to return to their homes in Iraq. "The war is impacting Syrians and non-Syrians alike, but the Christian condition in the Middle East is getting worse," Issa said. "Now they are going back, but they don't have anything. They lost everything. We as the Assyrian Aid Society have the responsibility to bring awareness to this condition and to try to collect humanitarian aid for these families." Because many call Iraq and Iran their former homeland, Assyrians are often confused with Arabs and Persians. They have also been dubbed Arab Christians, a label imposed on them by the Iraqi government, which refuses to acknowledge that Assyrians are the true natives of the land, many have said. "The problem is nobody cares about our people," Issa said. "Nobody wants to listen. We don't want to be part of the problem. We're trying to show the United Nations, the United States, and the Syrians that we can help these refugees and be part of the solution." Sunday's event is open to all and begins at 5 p.m. at the Assyrian American Association, 5839 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood. For more information, go to assyrianaid.org.