GENEVA – Geneva Council for Rights and Justice (GCRJ) expressed its deep concern towards the difficult and serious humanitarian situation in the refugee camps due to the severe cold and lack of health care.
GCRJ, an international human rights organization, said in a press release that the deaths of 15 displaced children, most of them are infants in Syrian refugee camps, called for international action to provide relief and life for them.
The number of children, including 13 who did not reach one year old, died in the Rakban camp in southeastern Syria near the border with Jordan, which suffers from a severe shortage of humanitarian assistance. Others also died during this tedious displacement journey.
The Council reported that freezing temperatures and harsh living conditions in al- Rakban camp are increasingly endangering the lives of children, so that in just one month at least eight children died – most of them under the age of four months, the youngest being only one hour old.
GCRJ pointed out that the camp is inhabited by around 50,000 displaced people suffering from difficult humanitarian conditions, especially since 2016 after Jordan closed its border with Syria, declaring the area a military zone, while humanitarian assistance sometimes needs months to enter the camp.
The council also pointed out that it is difficult for the displaced in Deir al-Zour to wait for days in the cold, without shelter or even basic necessities, which led to the death of seven children, most of them under the age of one.
GCRJ added that such a reality cannot be accepted internationally in the twenty-first century and requires action at the highest international level to stop the loss of life in such a tragic way.
It warned that in the absence of health care and protection, more children will die a day in and day out in Rakban and Deir al-Zour and other places in Syria. The council called for concerted international efforts to support and relief the displaced from Syria and avoid serious consequences if they do not receive assistance to protect them from Conditions of freezing weather.
