Catastrophic Rains With Winter Advent.. Their Victims Refugees In The Camps

Winter advent has become a burden due to its heavy rainfall all around Syria and the nearby countries, where the shabby tents of refugees inside Syria and in the camps in Lebanon’s Arsal forced them to stay in the open air at the first fall of rains foretasting humanitarian crisis with the weak potentials to find alternative solutions.
Cold of winter is a new suffering to be added to other lists caused by war; they work on finding means for warming with lower cost to be an alternative for warming fuel that the litter of it costs 400 Syrian pounds in liberated areas. In the beginning of every winter season, citizens who do not have heaters buy a new one which some become unable to afford- the small size is 15 thousands Syrian pounds, the thing forced some to look for alternative means for those in the markets.
Om Hamid from Idlib rural told us about her experience:” My husband got martyred due to regime bombed our house where my children and I were wounded; our house was completely destroyed along with all its furniture. Here we hire another house and looked for second-use furniture being cheaper than the new one”.
“My family and I depend on what some organizations and some people provide us with; with winter advent, I was worried about how I can buy a heater, so that I open an empty oil can, then I added a base where I use to burn in it Beren wood (remains of olives fruits, that are locally prepared) cause its smoke is less than that of the ordinary kind of wood. I use it in warming although I am totally aware of the fact this way harm my kids.. I have nothing to do”.
Many citizens in the liberated districts tend to use gas for warming; although the cylinder is expensive, yet it costs less than warming fuel or even wood. In all wars there are always beneficiaries who make advantage of the people’s need, that they increase the price of the gas cylinder from 6200 to 8500 Syrian pounds. Here some people become forced to look for replacements such as Beren, wood or even sawdust to face cold winter.
Probably the conditions of Syrians in liberated areas who are living in houses are better in comparison to those refugees and displaced living in camps by borders; nylon tents can not prevent water collected by continual rains, so that all the tents sank along with the simple and humble furniture in them. These tents are the only available shelter presented by the Arabic and international community. Refugees in Alrokban camp on border line in Jordan received cold with two deaths of children who died out of icecold and due to lack of medical and foodstuff supplies ,and heating. Cold devoured their skinny bodies, besides similar case of another child was authenticated in Azaz camp in the northern Syria for the same reason.
It is not a recent suffering, with winter advent with its rains and prospective snows, the national community stands still enjoying the scene of Syrians’ tents sinking; they do not want fuel for warming or houses instead of these tents, but they only want war to come to an end so that they can go back home to live in dignity away from humiliation in these tents.
By Samah Alkhaled
Translated by Sabah Najem
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