Syria – Floods in Displacement Camps in Idlib and Aleppo

by in Asia, News

At least 41,200 people have been impacted floods brought by heavy rainfall in North West Syria.

A displacement camp in North Western Aleppo, Syria in the aftermath of severe storms and flooding. Photo: Save the Children

According to a report by Save the Children, flooding swamped over 60 camps housing internally displaced people in parts of northern Idlib and western Aleppo on 18 January 2021.

Save the Children said that as many as 2,558 tents were damaged or destroyed, along with people’s already thin belongings destroyed. Families are struggling to protect their tents and find sources of heating. Most of the people affected have already faced years of being uprooted from their homes due to conflict. One child died after a wall collapsed due to flooding in a camp in Killi, Idlib.

“Tens of thousands of people scattered to find shelter from the ongoing storm in schools and mosques. Others were forced to sleep in the open air last night, in temperatures below zero,” Save the Children added.

Save the Children’s Syria Response Director, Sonia Khush, said, “I am saddened by the news of the death of a child following the severe floods in the North West. This is another loss of life in almost ten years of suffering for the people of Syria. Thousands of families will not be able to recover from this storm for a long time. Many have lost everything they worked hard to collect. And children don’t know where they are going to spend the night.

“We call for the urgent scaling up of relief efforts for children and families in affected areas. Cross-border humanitarian access needs to be facilitated urgently, and all parties to the conflict have to reach a solution that spares thousands further from suffering.”

Save the Children and partners are trying to provide essential humanitarian aid, but have not been able to reach three of the camps due to the roads turning into swamps. Camps where a third partner, Violet, is implementing vaccination services and where a family planning
centre was set up have also been cut off.

A displacement camp in North Western Aleppo, Syria in the aftermath of severe storms and flooding. Photo: Save the Children

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