UNITED STATES: Many of Syria's nearly three million displaced people face dire winter conditions with a brutal snow storm hammering the region, the United Nations warned Monday as it urged the international community do more to protect them.
“No one should live in these conditions” and it is “absolutely unacceptable,“ Mark Cutts, UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, told reporters by video link.
“We are extremely concerned” about the 2.8 million displaced people in the region, he said.
The latest storm has piled misery on war-ravaged Syria's northern refugee camps, where most of the displaced are living in tents, many of which are collapsing under the weight of snow. Other areas are enduring heavy rains or freezing temperatures.
“It’s a real disaster zone,“ Cutts added, saying an appeal has gone out for the international community to help more.
Last year the United Nations requested more than $4 billion for humanitarian aid in Syria but only collected 45 percent of the amount, according to Cutts.
Due to a lack of equipment, snow-clearing operations were being conducted by hand, he said, as he called for tents to be replaced by hard sturdier shelters.
Idlib region, where the 2.8 million displaced live, is the last Syrian enclave to oppose the regime in Damascus.
Humanitarian aid reaches them mainly through the Turkey-Syria border under special UN authorization free from Damascus interference, and which expires in July. - AFP
