Cranes in Jordan deliver aid to refugees in Syria
AMMAN, Jordan — Cranes hoisted huge white bags with rice, lentils and dates from Jordan into tent camps on the Syrian side of a border berm — an unprecedented way of delivering U.N. aid to tens of thousands of displaced Syrians cut off from outside help for almost two months.
The three-day delivery to two makeshift encampments in a remote desert area ended Thursday, U.N. aid agencies said.
Relief over getting badly needed aid to the Ruqban and Hadalat camps was muted by concern over deteriorating conditions there.
Some camp residents have dug holes for sleeping after selling flimsy shelters for scarce food and water, said a displaced Syrian, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions if he were to return home.
Aid agencies have said disease, malnutrition and dehydration are on the rise.
This week’s shipment of 650 metric tons of food and hygiene kits was a one-off — Jordan has said it would bar future deliveries from its soil on security grounds.
The international com- munity is scrambling for alternatives, but no viable option has emerged. Sending supplies from war-ravaged Syria appears risky, while U.N. officials say aid dropped by planes could end up in the wrong hands.
“This should be a wakeup call for everyone,” Shaza Moghraby, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program in Jordan, said of the growing suffering at the berm. “The world has a moral obligation to do something about this.”
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner that “we need everyone to do more” to help stranded Syrians. The situation at the berm is also linked to the broader problem that U.N. aid agencies haven’t been given access to all areas within Syria, he said.
Close to 5 million Syrians have fled their homeland during five years of civil war, most settling in neighboring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Over the past year, it has become increasingly difficult for Syrians to flee the fighting as the country’s neighbors tightened entry restrictions.
The number of Syrians stranded on the Jordanian border, awaiting entry, has grown from a few thousand to more than 75,000 over the past eight months, according to U.N. figures.