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
“A series of new Israeli operations and settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, risk seriously undermining the viability of a Palestinian state and the realisation of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva today.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNIS
UN voices concern over chemical spraying incident on Lebanon’s Blue Line
The UN reiterated concerns on Friday at reports that Israeli forces sprayed herbicide over areas north of the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel. The development poses a “serious humanitarian risk” to civilians living there, said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), briefing journalists in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Five patients evacuated as Rafah reopens while ‘too many stayed behind’ – WHO
As time is running out for thousands of critically ill patients in Gaza, hope is alive for medical evacuations to increase with the reopening of the Rafah crossing in the southern part of the Strip, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG , OHCHR
This Sunday marks five years of crisis in Myanmar. Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights, and James Rodehaver, chief of the Myanmar team, today spoke on the conduct of recent military-imposed elections, deploring the failure to respect the fundamental human rights of the country’s citizens. The process served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Brutal Gaza war erased years of progress on education, in an “assault on the future itself” – UNICEF
Restoring Gaza’s shattered education system is “lifesaving” and getting children back into schools must be an immediate priority, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.
2
6
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | HRC
At UN, war crimes probe pledges to continue to work for all impacted by Hamas-Israel conflict
As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, top independent rights experts tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating grave abuses linked to the Hamas-Israel war pledged to continue their work seeking justice and accountability for all.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk was outraged by the repeated large-scale attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns against repeating abuses in South Kordofan that occurred in El Fasher.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Mozambique floods heighten disease, malnutrition risks – UN agencies
Catastrophic flooding in Mozambique is causing massive disruption to lives and livelihoods across the country, increasing the risk of disease and exposing urban areas to crocodiles, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
Yemen: Children are dying and it’s going to get worse, aid veteran warns
In Yemen, renewed political instability threatens and economic woes linked to the war to complicate the already difficult task of helping vulnerable people suffering from deepening hunger, illness and displacement, the UN's top aid official there said on Monday.