Syria crisis: More than 280,000 people have to leave their homes in the Northwest region
Aid continues to flow from Türkiye through three border crossings into the besieged Northwest and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said it had opened community kitchens in Aleppo and Hama – cities believed to be currently occupied by HTS fighters.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Lebanon, senior United Nations aid official Edem Wosornu expressed deep concern about the safety of more than 600,000 people who have begun returning to their devastated homes after when the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on November 27. “I am sure they are settling down, the question is what they will find when they return home,” she told journalists in Geneva, emphasizing the potential dangers from unexploded bombs and mines.
Syrian famine
Speaking in Geneva following a joint assessment mission of UN Emergency Managers and NGOs to the Middle East from November 25 to December 1, Samer AbdelJaber of the United Nations World Food Program ( WFP) has described the new emergency unfolding in Syria as “one crisis on top of another” – one crisis on top of another. refers to the country’s civil war that began in 2011, caused by a civil uprising against the Government.
Since then, the country has attracted regional and international powers and challenged the efforts of Security Council and the broader global community to end it. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have died and many more are believed to remain in Government prisons.
Mr. AbdelJaber, head of WFP’s Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy department, warned that some 1.5 million people could be displaced by this latest escalation “and will need our support. Of course, humanitarian partners are working on both front lines, we are trying to reach communities wherever there is need.”
The WFP official noted that the sudden escalation did not close the three humanitarian border crossings with Türkiye and that aid continued to flow into Aleppo, Syria’s second city.
The United Nations agency “has opened and supported two community kitchens that are providing hot meals both in Aleppo as well as in Hama,” he said, adding that “aid partners were on the scene and doing everything possible to provide basic assistance to the people.” people”.
Millions of Syrians are in crisis as the war has devastated the economy and people’s livelihoods, threatening their survival. “Currently, Syria is at a breaking point, after 13 or 14 years of conflict, more than 3 million Syrians are severely food insecure and cannot afford to buy food,” Mr. AbdelJaber said. Syria needs food aid amid latest crisis.
Despite the clear need for more support, international funding for Syria’s $4.1 billion humanitarian response plan “is facing its biggest shortfall from the United States,” the WFP official warned. ever,” with less than a third of the funds needed for 2024 received so far.
People returning to Lebanon are in danger
In neighboring Lebanon, senior United Nations humanitarian official Edem Wosornu, Director, Operations and Advocacy at the United Nations aid coordination office, OCHAsaid those affected by the war between Israeli militants and Hezbollah “have returned faster than they left the conflict; More than 600,000 people have started to return home and as we speak, I am sure they are slowly getting back on their feet. The issue is what they will find when they return home and the need for our response to turn quickly.”
Among those in need today are many Syrian refugees fleeing war in their country, displaced only a few times since their arrival, said Isabel Gomes, Global Director of Disaster Management at NGO World Vision International explains: “There was one particular girl we spoke to; She told us the story of when the conflict broke out, she had to move, she was nearly nine months pregnant, and had to walk miles and miles.
“She then asked us if she could show us her baby, and we saw her baby was two months old. But when we asked if the baby had been vaccinated , she said the baby had never been vaccinated.”
“We are also concerned about the impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance in some of these locations,” OCHA’s Ms. Wosornu explained.
“We are really asking our mine action colleagues and others to support the Government in demining operations because when those who want to return home, those who have returned home, those farmers are trying to take advantage of the remainder of the olive harvest, there will be concerns that this…could be affected there.”
