Heavy rains in northwestern Syria and the eastern coast on Saturday evening caused widespread floods and torrents, resulting in the death of two children and the drowning and damage of more than ten camps for displaced people in several areas of Idlib. This exacerbated the suffering of thousands of families who already live in fragile humanitarian conditions, and prompted official and service authorities to declare a state of alert and 24-hour field monitoring.
Two children died, and a third child was rescued (siblings according to initial data), after they were swept away by floods resulting from heavy rains in the Ain Issa area of the northern Latakia countryside, where the Syrian Civil Defense teams in the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management were able to rescue one child and recover the bodies of two children.
The teams are also continuing their search for two civilians who are missing in the Al-Asaliyah area of the Latakia countryside, after three civilians were trapped by the floods. The teams succeeded in rescuing one of them after he got stuck in a tree, while the search for the others is still ongoing, despite the great difficulties resulting from the depth of the valley, the strength of the current, and the danger of the rocky cliffs.
In the Khirbet al-Jouz camps, displaced person Hassan al-Damour, a father of five, described the harrowing moments his family endured when flash floods swept through their tents. He explained that water entered their tent suddenly and quickly, submerging all its contents, including mattresses, blankets, and food supplies. Al-Damour noted that his family was unable to salvage any of their essential belongings, which were buried in mud. He was forced to carry his children out into the rain, amidst fear and confusion, seeking shelter for them with a relative. He emphasized that these losses were not the first of their kind, but rather occurred against a backdrop of dire living conditions and a complete lack of resources. He pointed out that the recurring flooding of the camps with each storm exacerbates the suffering of the displaced and makes their lives even more precarious with each passing winter.
Fatima al-Ramous, a displaced woman who has been living for years in one of the camps in Jisr al-Shughour that were damaged by the floods, said that what she witnessed in the past few hours brought back memories of her initial displacement, with all its fear and instability. “We have no alternative to these tents, and every winter we experience the same anxiety and the same displacement. The rain is a real disaster for us.”
She said her children spend their nights in the cold and mud after their tents flooded and their blankets and mattresses were ruined, and that health conditions are worsening with the spread of dampness and the lack of heating. She continued, “We fear illness more than anything, especially with the continued rain and the inadequate medical services within the camps.” She warned that the continued rainfall could exacerbate the living and health conditions of the displaced, given the fragile infrastructure and the absence of real solutions to protect the camps from floods, stressing that families now urgently need support that goes beyond temporary aid. She concluded, “We want solutions that protect us from this recurring fear every winter, not to relive the same disaster every time it rains.”
The suffering of displaced Syrians in camps in northwestern Syria increases year after year, as they wait for a solution that will end their tragedy and return them to their homes in their cities and villages. The suffering of these displaced people has increased during the last two years due to the scarcity of humanitarian aid.
The preparation of the study, “Camp Needs in Northwest Syria,” coincided with the onset of winter, a season in which displaced people endure extremely difficult living conditions. Every year, numerous incidents occur, including tents being flooded or uprooted by winds or swept away by flash floods, as well as tent fires. The poor condition of the roads also hinders the delivery of humanitarian aid. These incidents result in deaths and injuries among the displaced population annually. Such tragedies could be prevented through projects that improve infrastructure and provide camps with essential services. The humanitarian response provided by various actors over the past decade has failed to offer sustainable solutions for camps in northern Syria, focusing instead on temporary measures such as distributing food and hygiene kits.
The study, “Camp Needs in Northwest Syria,” prepared by the Information Management Unit of the Syrian Civil Defense, reviews the most important basic needs of displaced people in 192 camps in northwest Syria, in an attempt to enhance the ability of actors to plan and provide humanitarian support that meets the required needs in a timely manner, and to improve the reality of the camps and reduce the recurring tragic incidents.
The study encompassed 179 formal camps and 13 informal camps distributed across 45 villages and towns in northwestern Syria. The largest number of camps in the sample (102) were located within the Dana subdistrict, reflecting its high concentration of camps in northwestern Syria.
The study was conducted according to several parameters, including the type of housing in the camps, which comprised 68,000 housing units. These included 51% canvas tents, 43% tents with concrete walls and rainproof roofs, 3% concrete houses, and 1% caravans. Additional parameters included land ownership, camp size, and the number of residents, thus determining the per capita share of space in the assessed camps.
The study reviewed the most prominent difficulties that these camps were exposed to. 81% of the assessed camps were exposed to floods and the tents were submerged, 78% of them suffered from the lack of suitable heating methods, and in 69% of the camps, water and mud pools formed as a result of the poor condition of the roads and sidewalks. 66% of the camps witnessed the tearing and uprooting of tents as a result of strong winds and rain, and 40% of the camps were exposed to difficulties as a result of the inability of humanitarian organizations to reach them due to the poor condition of the roads leading to the camp.
The statistics and percentages presented in the study are not just numbers, but rather an expression of the magnitude of the tragedy experienced by those forcibly displaced to northern Syria, especially in the 500 informal camps. Consequently, the scale of the disaster is much greater. The only solution is the safe return of civilians to their villages and homes from which they were displaced. Any solutions that lead to anything other than this will not be acceptable, are ineffective, and diminish the rights and humanity of the displaced. However, this does not mean that measures should not be taken to improve services in the camps in a way that preserves their dignity and provides them with the minimum requirements for life and the return of all residents to their homes.