In Syria and Yemen, refugees conditions worsen

Syrian woman in a camp for displaced persons Syrian woman in a camp for displaced persons Photo by Joel Carrillet on iStock

04 May 2021  

COVID-19 is spreading among the 60,000 residents of the Al Hol camp in Syria, while torrential rains and floods are devastating Yemen.

Al Hol camp is a refugee camp situated in north-eastern Syria and which is home to 60,000 people. The United Nations (UN) highlighted in the last daily briefing its concern for the spreading of COVID-19 across Syria. Indeed, to date, 39 positive cases and 6 related deaths were registered in the Al Hol camp. Since a wider outbreak could be devastating, the UN and humanitarian partners, such as Save the Children, are trying to mitigate the transmission of the virus by providing health and sanitation assistance and supporting the COVID-19 Treatment Facility at Al Hol. The UN also emphasized the need for better humanitarian access to Al Hol due to the dire living conditions of its residents, especially for children, who represent more than half of the camp population. Indeed, Save the Children is providing vital services to the 31,000 children living in the camp, including individual protection, which has proved necessary due to the recent security issues which caused the death of 40 adults and two children since the start of the year.  

On the other hand, torrential rains and floods have been hitting Yemen since mid-April, affecting 3,730 families, the majority of whom had already been displaced by the six-year war. The intensified rainfall, characteristic of Yemen's rainy season which runs from April to August, has caused four deaths and has destroyed the homes of 167 families, damaging crucial infrastructure such as the main north-south road to the capital Sanaa which has been cut off. The UN announced that humanitarian partners are mobilizing to distribute food and other aid to those affected and to relocate Internally Displaced People to shelters on higher ground.

 

To know more, please read: 

https://www.unocha.org/story/daily-noon-briefing-highlights-syria-yemen-1

https://www.savethechildren.net/news/north-east-syria-covid-19-spreads-through-camps-ramadan-begins-under-emergency-lockdown

https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/two-children-killed-al-hol-camp-syria

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56979531

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/YEMEN%20-%20Floods%20Update%204%20May%202021_0.pdf

 

Author: Eleonora Gonnelli; Editor: Carla Leonetti

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