The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
‘Mayhem’ in Idlib’s hospitals amid ongoing violence pushing displaced towards Turkish border
Rapidly escalating conflict in north-west Syria has created health care “mayhem” amid reports of displaced people moving closer to the Turkish border in search of shelter, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday.
“Health workers the World Health Organization has been speaking to describe mayhem in their health facilities,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, he said that nearly 170,000 “newly displaced people are sleeping out in the open” in Idlib - the last opposition-held area of Syria that is the target of a Government-led military campaign. This “has been exposing children to temperatures close to zero degrees. And that is a drama”.
Since 1 December, 11 healthcare facilities have been attacked, causing 10 deaths and 37 injuries, according to WHO.
The UN agency warned that the displacement crisis has created huge healthcare needs in some medical centres and hospitals but left other facilities deserted, amid a “sharp rise in trauma cases”.
“As of today, 84 health facilities have been forced to suspend operations since 1 December last year, out of those 84, 31 have been able to relocate and provide services where people have sought refuge from bombardments,” Mr Lindmeier said.
As part of a major and ongoing humanitarian cross-border initiative, WHO sent medical and surgical supplies from Turkey to northwest Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“In a two-day operation, WHO has sent seven truckloads, or 55 tons of medicine and medical supplies, from Turkey into Idleb governorate and parts of Aleppo,” Mr Lindmeier explained.
Using the border crossings of Bab al Hawa and Bab al Sama, the UN agency transported equipment including 3,200 trauma and surgical treatments.
These are being distributed to WHO partners in more than 150 facilities - approximately half of functioning health facilities in the northwest.
Since 1 December, the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that that nearly a million people have been displaced in the embattled region.
Conditions are “horrifying”, spokesperson Jens Laerke said.
“We now have 950,000 displacements going in absolutely horrifying conditions. People have nothing and they have no place to go. So you know, this is an increase upon an increase upon an increase, and it is really tragic to see what is going on.”
Amid reports that the Turkish authorities had begun allowing Syrian civilians to cross into Turkey after
dozens of Turkish soldiers were reportedly killed in an attack linked to Syrian Government forces, Mr Laerke said that OCHA had yet to receive confirmation of this.
“We have no official confirmation from or communication from the Turkish Government about any change as of now,” he said. “So, the cross-border operation does continue and I could add that in the first two months of this year, we have had more than 2,000 trucks crossing that border and that operation continues.”
- Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Medium shot: Press briefing room, journalists, podium with speakers and UN logo.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, the World Health Organization (WHO):
- “As of today, 28 February, attacks on health in Syria since the mass displacement started on 1 December, are 11 in total, causing 10 deaths and 37 injuries.”
- Medium shot: journalists, one of who is typing on laptop then looking at podium speaker, profile.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We now have 950,000 displacements going in absolutely horrifying conditions. People have nothing and they have no place to go. So you know, this is an increase upon an increase upon an increase, and it is really tragic to see what is going on.”
- Close-up: journalists’ faces, profile.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, the World Health Organization (WHO):
- “Nearly 170,000 newly displaced people are sleeping out in the open, as you rightly said, which has been exposing children to temperatures close to zero degrees. And that is a drama.”
- Close-up: journalist holding mobile phone, podium speakers in background, UN logo.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, the (WHO):
- “In a two-day operation, WHO has sent seven truckloads, or 55 tons of medicine and medical supplies, from Turkey into Idleb governorate and parts of Aleppo.”
- Close-up: hands typing on laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, the World Health Organization (WHO): “Health workers the World Health Organization has been speaking to describe mayhem in their health facilities.”
- Medium shot: journalist looking at laptop, onlooker in background.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, the World Health Organization (WHO): “As of today, 84 health facilities have been forced to suspend operations since 1 December last year, out of those 84, 31 have been able to relocate and provide services where people have sought refuge from bombardments.”
- Close-up: journalists, head shots, semi-profile.
- Close-up: hands typing on laptops.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We have no official confirmation from or communication from the Turkish Government about any change as of now. So, the cross-border operation does continue and I could add that in the first two months of this year we have had more than 2,000 trucks crossing that border and that operation continues.”
- Close-up: showing handwriting on press release.
- Medium shot: journalists, podium with speakers and UN logo.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office in Syria conducted a 5-day visit to the northeast of the country where they received accounts of human rights violations and abuses.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Sudan: ‘History repeating itself’ for Darfur’s children - UNICEF
Mass atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur 20 years ago reverberated as far as Hollywood, but today, a new generation of children faces attacks, hunger and displacement in an emergency largely ignored by the outside world, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNMAS
Desperate and dangerous conditions in Gaza continue to hamper recovery efforts for the wartorn enclave's people, the UN health agency said on Friday, while demining experts warned that they’ve “barely scratched the surface” in assessing the level of contamination of unexploded ordnance.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News
The continued support of UN Member States to Lebanon will be “indispensable” to boost the country’s national armed forces and provide humanitarian assistance with more than one million people still uprooted by the Middle East war, the UN's peacekeeping chief said on Wednesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNECE
Middle East war: After oil and gas shortages, concerns grow over critical minerals crunch
The shipping crisis in the Strait of Hormuz caused by war in the Middle East has exposed a new threat: a looming shortage of strategic minerals needed to drive economies all over the world and a race by countries to obtain them.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM
Millions of desperate Sudanese return home amid dire conditions as war rages – IOM
Three years into the devastating conflict in Sudan, nearly four million displaced people have returned to their places of origin across the country, only to face “another struggle for survival”, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNESCO
UNESCO protects cultural sites in war-torn Middle East, confirming damage to key heritage.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
The war in Gaza has inflicted a far higher toll on women and girls than in previous conflicts in the Palestinian enclave, with more than 38,000 killed by Israeli air bombardment and land military operations since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023, UN Women said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, making it the deadliest year on record in South and Southeast Asia, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNFPA , IFRC
Lebanon faces escalating violence, with new mothers uncertain of safety amid ongoing crises.
1
1
1
Edited News | FAO , UNHCR , WHO
Sudan: 14 million displaced; hunger and attacks on health continue as war enters fourth year
As Sudan approaches the third anniversary of a brutal civil war, millions remain displaced and hungry while the health system lies in ruins, with no end to the violence in sight, UN agencies said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNHCR , WFP
Lebanon: People ‘still under the rubble’ after massive strikes as ambulances, hospitals come under threat – UN humanitarians
With Lebanon still reeling from Israel’s devastating airstrikes on 8 April, UN humanitarians reported new fears of attacks on ambulances and looming food shortages in the south of the country on Friday.