The head of the Syrian Coalition’s Department of Refugee Affairs, Amal Sheikho, called on the United Nations and international relief organizations to declare a state of emergency in response to the snowstorm that has wrecked the Syrian refugee camps. She said that millions of refugees, especially women and children, are in urgent need for help before it is too late.
In special remarks on Thursday, Sheikho said that a rapid response by the United Nations and its agencies “will reduce damage and prevent further casualties.” She pointed out that the complicated political scene should not be an obstacle to the provision of humanitarian assistance to those affected by the snowstorm.”
Sheikho expressed regret for the miserable situation of Syrian refugees in camps in Lebanon, adding: “For the eighth year in a row, refugee camps have been affected by harsh weather conditions both in winter and summer amid lack of an effective solution.” She stressed that “the United Nations has a moral responsibility to spare no effort to prevent further casualties.”
“This ongoing tragedy must come to an end, Sheikho said, stressing that this can only be done by addressing the reasons that forced the Syrian people to live in tents and through the implementation of the UN resolutions on Syria, most importantly the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon on Wednesday published appalling figures revealing the extent of damage caused by the snowstorm that has wrecked the Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon over the past few days.
The UNHCR warned that camps sheltering tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are at high risk of flooding, adding that dozens of unofficial settlements of Syrian refugees were completely flooded and collapsed.
Meanwhile, activists said that a three-year-old girl died in al-Rukban IDP camp in southern Syria due to the extreme cold and lack of heating and medical care.
The displaced people and those who were forcibly displaced by the Assad regime forces to IDP camps in northern Syria live in tragic conditions as a result of the harsh weather conditions hitting the region. Activists said that the flash flooding in Atmah area led to the collapse of the main bridge connecting the Afrin area in northern rural Aleppo with the town of Atmah in northern rural Idlib. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
