At Least 11,000 Children In Danger In Syrian Idlib As Floods Hit Refugee Camps - NGO

At least 11,000 children living in refugee camps are facing a "desperate plight" this winter after torrential downpours ravaged the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, international non-governmental organization (NGO) Save the Children said in a statement on Thursday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2019) At least 11,000 children living in refugee camps are facing a "desperate plight" this winter after torrential downpours ravaged the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, international non-governmental organization (NGO) Save the Children said in a statement on Thursday.

"At least 11,000 children who have been forced to flee their homes because of war are facing a desperate plight this winter after torrential rains hit Syria's Idlib province," the charity said in a statement.

The charity said, citing aid workers on the ground, that conditions in camps for people displaced in the course of the civil war were "miserable" and dangerous, with thousands of children forced to live in shaky tents or buildings with no windows. Due to the heavy rains-triggered flash floods, some of the displaced people are isolated from the outside world, and schools have been closed in some areas. While reports of illness increase, people are facing difficulties with accessing health facilities.

"We urgently need to scale up life-saving support for children and families facing a harsh winter in Idlib and elsewhere in Syria.

Children are terrified at the prospect of more violence and displacement. As well as facilitating humanitarian access, all parties to the conflict must work together to reach a negotiated solution to the crisis that spares more than a million children in Idlib from further suffering," Sonia Khush, the Syria response director at Save the Children said, as quoted in the NGO's statement.

Since armed groups operating in the region have been engaged in violent clashes over the past few weeks, emergency deliveries were delayed, including those of tents and blankets.

According to the charity, Idlib is one of the world's "densest concentrations of displaced people," with 317 displacement facilities located there housing at least 1.4 million people.

In the coming days, the organization is planning to deliver over 1,000 blankets and sleeping mats, and also 300 hygiene kits to the refugees. It also currently works on the ground in Lebanon, where scores of Syrians have fled since the beginning of the war, since at least 66 informal refugee settlements have been destroyed by floods there.