AT THE MERCY OF KILLER COLD
15 SYRIA KIDS DIE DUE TO LACK OF CARE IN FREEZING WINTER
Fifteen children died this winter in refugee camps in freezing cold and more are likely to follow, the UN says. The UAE is donating Dh18.4 million in urgent aid to refugees in Lebanon who are also facing harsh winter conditions
At least 15 Syrian children have died as a result of a lack of medical care and inadequate living conditions for displaced people in the country amid freezing winter temperatures, the UN has said, warning that more are likely to follow.
Eight babies in the Rukban camp on the Jordanian border have died from hypothermia in the last month, a statement from the UN children’s fund said on Tuesday.
A further seven children, mostly under one year old, died from the cold in recent weeks as their families fled the battle for Hajin, one of the last areas held by Daesh in eastern Syria.
“Extreme cold and the lack of medical care, for mothers before and during birth and for new infants, have exacerbated already dire conditions for children and their families,” said Geert Cappelaere, Unicef’s regional director.
“The lives of babies continue to be cut short by health conditions that are preventable or treatable. There are no excuses for this in the 21st century. This tragic man-made loss of life must end now.”
The freezing winter weather has piled pressure on the already inadequate infrastructure for the estimated 6 million Syrians who have been displaced within the country’s borders over the last eight years of civil war and the estimated 4 million living across neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
At least 22,000 refugees in Lebanon have lost tents and belongings in the recent storms and snowfall that have flooded hundreds of informal camps.
Death camp
Forecasts indicate the regional cold snap is set to worsen, bringing more snow, strong winds and plunging temperatures.
Rukban camp in particular has suffered.
Although home to 50,000 people, 80 per cent of whom are women and children, the area in the demilitarised no-man’s land between Syria and Jordan has fallen victim to the struggle for control of the border, becoming cut off from doctors and aid shipments.
No aid supplies have reached Rukban since November last year, forcing residents to rely on smugglers for food and medicine.
In 2018 at least 12 people died of malnutrition and complica- tions arising from lack of appropriate medical care.
UN agencies and workers at the camp have denied reports this week that a female resident unable to feed her three children set her family and herself alight in an act of desperation.
Cold killer
All four are in a stable condition and being treated for second-degree burns at a hospital in Jordan. Administrators said the injuries were caused by a cooking stove fire.
Mahmoud Al Hamil, who works at the camp, said the incident was an accident but he believed many of Rukban’s residents were desperate.
“I believe if we receive no help, especially in this cold winter, we will witness suicide attempts — people are so hopeless and desperate here,” he said.
“Rukban camp is a death camp with all roads blocked.”
Syria’s war is in its ninth year but the miserable conditions faced by internally displaced people and refugees show no signs of abating.
Fighting between rebel factions and an Al Qaida affiliate in Idlib province, as well as the prospect of a Turkish military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria’s north-east, have raised fears of further mass displacements.
“Without reliable and accessible healthcare, protection and shelter, more children will die day in, day out in Rukban, Deir Al Zor and elsewhere in Syria. History will judge us for these entirely avoidable deaths,” Cappelaere said.