The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNHCR
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing Humanitarian Situation in Syria 29 January 2021 - OCHA
Torrential rains in Syria damage tents, devastate lives of people in camps
More than 120,000 people living in some 300 displacement sites across northwest Syria are now facing a catastrophe caused by torrential rain and strong winds, according to the United Nations. At least 21,700 tents are estimated to have been damaged in the floods.
“Heavy rainfall and floods in north-west Syria in recent weeks have had a devastating impact on displaced people living in self-made camps, and the situation is going from bad to worse”, said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at a news briefing today at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
OCHA reports that there are 2,7 million displaced people in Idlib and other parts of northwest Syria, including 1,6 million people spread out in over 1,300 camps and informal sites. There are not nearly enough health facilities, schools and other essential services for all these people.
“Many people who were already struggling to survive had their food stocks and household items and other possessions washed away, and water sources were contaminated” Laerke said.
“In some cases small children, the elderly, pregnant mothers and other vulnerable people were left stranded in remote areas in the mud, as temperatures dropped below zero,” he added.
Thousands of people have found themselves cut off from all services and support for days, as rescue workers and humanitarian struggled to reach them to provide support.
Although artillery shelling and bombardments have continued to impact communities and cause casualties across the northwest in January, including the Idleb area, open hostilities remain significantly lower compared to last year at the same time before the ceasefire started.
“Humanitarian staff are now struggling to reopen access roads to reach the displaced in the north-west with emergency shelter, food, clean water and other supplies. It is a massive undertaking and the work will continue for months”, OCHA’s Jens Laerke said.“So far, the international response has not matched the scale of the crisis”.
In November 2020, OCHA issued a call for US$49 million for priority winterisation activities, including to deal with flooding, but less than half of this has been received to date. People will continue to suffer in sites that lack adequate access roads, gravel, drainage systems and other essential services.
As the 10th anniversary of the Syrian conflict is approaching, the numbers are staggering: twelve million people having been forced from their homes – more than half the pre-conflict population – making it the biggest displacement crisis of this century. Over 80 per cent of the conflict-affected civilian population are women, children and the elderly.
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Heavy rainfall and floods in north-west Syria in recent weeks have had a devastating impact on displaced people living in self-made camps, and the situation is going from bad to worse”
- Close up, UN Geneva spokesperson
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Many people who were already struggling to survive had their food stocks and household items and other possessions washed away, and water sources were contaminated. In some cases small children, the elderly, pregnant mothers and other vulnerable people were left stranded in remote areas in the mud, as temperatures dropped below zero”.
- Close up, journalist in room
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Humanitarian staff are now struggling to reopen access roads to reach the displaced in the north-west with emergency shelter, food, clean water and other supplies. It is a massive undertaking and the work will continue for months. So far, the international response has not matched the scale of the crisis”.
- Close up, laptop screen with Zoom participants
- Medium shot, journalist at press briefing room at the UN Palais
- Medium shot, journalist at press briefing room at the UN Palais
- Medium shot, spokesperson at podium
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Human Rights Council annual panel on adverse impacts of climate change.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
The first meagre midweek delivery of urgently needed medical goods to enter Gaza in months will provide scant relief to the enclave’s people, who continue to be shot and killed as they search for food, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
2
1
2
Statements , Edited News | HRC
Enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on Myanmar presented by Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and oral update by Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
The conflict-impacted people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) urgently need much more international assistance than they are getting today, the UN’s top aid official said on Thursday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNOG
Violence in Myanmar is spiralling as the military junta increases its attacks on monasteries, schools and camps sheltering people uprooted by the civil war, a top independent human rights investigator warned on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on Palestinians killed seeking food in Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Iran-Israel war: UN rights office concerned over strike on Tehran prison, reported espionage arrests
Tehran’s notorious Evin prison known for holding dissidents should not be a target, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday, a day after a reported Israeli strike on the complex.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave's people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. “I met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza - I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.”
1
1
1
Edited News | UNCTAD
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched today the World Investment Report 2025. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11%, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the report.
1
1
1
Edited News
Afghan journalist Zahra Nader fled twice due to Taliban rule, highlighting severe women's rights issues.
1
1
1
Edited News
Gazan photojournalist Motaz Azaiza documents war's impact, gaining global attention but facing personal peril.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
As the Iran-Israel crisis continued into a sixth day, the UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif called for urgent talks to end the continuing exchanges of missile attacks between Tehran and Tel-Aviv.