Death Toll Among Syrian Refugees due to the Snowstorm Rises to 11

The death toll among Syrian refugees due to the snowstorm that has swept the eastern Mediterranean rose to 11, amid warnings of worsening living conditions inside the refugee camps, home to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. Among the victims are three children from one family who were killed when their tent collapsed on them near the Lebanese town of Arsal. Medical sources in Aleppo said that an elderly couple died as a result of the bitter cold. Approximately 100,000 Syrian refugees are now trapped in their tents in Arsal, amid a severe shortage of food, medicine and heating fuel. Displaced Syrians in camps set up along the Syrian-Turkish borders are also suffering from bitter cold and heavy rain that flooded many tents, also amid a severe shortage of food, medicine and heating fuel. Residents of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, home to about one 100,000 Syrian refugees, of whom 4,000 families are still living in tents, demanded that they are moved to prefabs to protect them from the bitter cold and fierce chilling wind that uprooted hundreds of tents. Interim Prime Minister Ahmed Tomeh urges the international community to take immediate action to help the Syrian refugee cope with the snowstorm sweeping the region and that has killed 10 refugees. He spoke at a news conference that was also attended by Suheir al-Atassi, head of Assistance Coordination Unit (ACU). “At the directions of the President of the Syrian Coalition Khaled Khoja, we have taken emergency measures to respond to the humanitarian disaster resulting from the snowstorm that is hitting Syria and the region as well as sent appeals to international organizations to provide immediate relief aid to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, especially in the town of Arsal,” Tomeh said. “Just as they have faced Assad’s criminality, Syrians now, bare-chested, are facing bitter cold and hunger in their ramshackled tents,” he added. “The souls of those little children who froze to death in the refugee camps appeal to your conscience to intervene, and today there should be no room for inventing excuses.” Atassi stresses that they submitted a comprehensive plan to many countries two months earlier demanding that these countries take urgent action to prepare for the cold wave and frost likely to hit the refugees, pointing out that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey have already begun providing aid to Syrian refugees to help them cope with the snowstorm. “We are still waiting for the rest of the friendly countries to follow suit and intervene,” Atassi said. At the conclusion of the news conference, Tomeh and Atassi thanked all the countries that had provided support for the Syrian refugees, especially in Jordan and Lebanon. It is worth noting that the Syrian Coalition has held an emergency meeting that lasted until dawn to discuss necessary steps needed to address the humanitarian disaster taking place in the refugee camps following the bitter cold and heavy snow that has hit the region. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Jazeera)