As more Syrian civilians flock towards the Turkish border to flee the Assad regime and Russian bombardment of the ‘de-escalation zone’ in northwestern Syria, the United Nations said that more than 300,000 people have fled towards the border with Turkey.
“Camps for the displaced are overcrowded, with many people forced to stay in open fields or under trees,” Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General told a press briefing on Thursday.
“We remain alarmed by the extensive humanitarian impact of hostilities currently unfolding in the northwest Syria de-escalation zone, particularly in northern Hama and southern Idlib,” Dujarric added.
Dujarric went on to say that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented incidents in which at least 231 civilians, including 69 women and 81 children, were killed and scores of civilians injured since the escalation of hostilities on 29 April.
The Syrian Coalition earlier called upon the international community to find effective mechanisms to stop the Assad regime and Russian brutal attacks on unarmed civilians in northwestern Syria. It warned that the intensification of the fighting would force more people to flee towards the Turkish border.
The United Nations on Monday warned that up to two million refugees could flee to Turkey if fighting intensifies in northwestern Syria as aid funds run dangerously low.
“Our fear is if this continues, and if the numbers continue soaring, and if the conflict intensifies, that we could see really hundreds of thousands, a million, two, heading toward the borders with Turkey,” the UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Panos Moumtzis, said. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
