Difficult living conditions in al-Hawl Camp amid the absence of humanitarian organizations’ role

Amid the deteriorating security situation, the internally displaced people in al-Hawl camp, the largest camp for IDPs and refugees in northeastern Syria, are suffering difficult living conditions and the almost complete absence of the humanitarian organizations’ role.

The camp market is witnesses a restless movement throughout the day, where women sell second-hand clothes, vegetables and cold drinks on stalls, as well as child labor, most of whom have become breadwinners after losing their parents during the war in Syria and Iraq, in conjunction with the high unemployment rate.

(L. M.), a displaced woman from the area of al-Qalamoun, Damascus countryside, who refused to reveal her identity, told North-Press about her suffering, where her husband was killed in the war, pointing out that she suffers the high prices, in light of the loss of her husband.

The displaced woman says that she often sits under her tent and waits for whom he gives a charity to her in order to feed her seven children.

“Sometimes, I sell vegetables in the market, but the income is very low, especially since the prices are very expensive”, she said.

Another displaced woman who sells ice blocks says: “Life in the camp is very miserable, we are suffering a shortage of food and water amid the high temperatures, the humanitarian organizations gave us fans, but we don’t have electricity, we are living in the hell”.

With the absence of health awareness, many diseases have spread among the camp’s residents, according to the official of the Kurdish Red Crescent, Ramadan Mohammed, the number of daily visitors to the Kurdish Red Crescent center is about 600 patients, most of them are seasonal infections.

Since the beginning of this year, about 312 children aged between one and 15 years have died in al-Hawl camp, due to malnutrition, cold and heat, according to the Kurdish Red Crescent.

There are about 33 humanitarian and relief organizations affiliated with international institutions to provide aid for the camp’s residents. However, according to the IDPs, the organizations are reluctant to help them because the percentage of the distributed aid is insufficient to secure their living.

Al-Hawl camp is run by the Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria, according to the recent statistics, the camp is the home of about 71,000 people, including some 11,000 members of the Islamic State families.

In a statement last May, the UN Human Rights Committee said that the provided aid for al-Hawl camp was totally inadequate, and it called on the international community to make every effort to provide humanitarian assistance for the IDPs and refugees there.