Idlib – North-Press Agency
Last week, storms and heavy rain in the internally displaced persons camps in northern Idlib, northwestern Syria, washed away dozens of tents and caused damage to hundreds of them, amid the inability of the IDPs and the officials of those camps to cope with this reality.
Muhammad Abu Tamer, director of Khayara IDP camp, near the town of Sarmada about 30 km north of Idlib, told North-Press that most of the camp, which includes 70 displaced families, was destroyed by the storm. Even the tents which were not uprooted by the storm were torn and are no longer habitable. "The damage is constantly increasing because the storm has not ended yet, as it appears from the weather," Tamer said.
Many IDP camps, including al-Tah camp in northern Idlib, were damaged, although they were firmly set up, according to the camp residents. However, the tents did not withstand the storm and were subjected to great damage, while Sahl al-Khair camp in Sarmada was announced as destroyed by the camp administration due to the strong rainstorm, which caused great damage, in addition to the wind uprooting ten tents in both of al-Sadaqah and Sarha camps in the town of Kellie, 23 km north of Idlib.
The damage was not limited to property; there were mostly minor injuries among the children.
Jamal Abdul-Majeed, director of Talminis IDP camp in Kafr Takharim, west of Idlib, told North-Press that the rainstorm filled the ground of the camp with mud, which led to the cessation of movement among the tents, of which there are 100 which shelter 108 families, saying: “We are no longer able to lift and set up the damaged tents due to continuation of the storm.”
The storms also completely destroyed al-Shifaa and Bidama IDP camps in Jisr al-Shughour countryside, northwest of the country.
Abu Omar (a pseudonym), who is in charge of al-Rahma camp, told North-Press that the storm has torn 9 tents and uprooted another 6 in their camp in Sheikh Bahr village, west of Idlib, noting that they are contacting organizations for securing shelter or tents for the families that are now out in the open.
Residents of IDP camps in the bordering areas with Turkey in the north of Idlib governorate suffer from the deterioration of the services and health and environment sectors, amid increasing numbers after the recent military operations between the Syrian government forces supported by Russia on one hand, and the Turkish-backed armed opposition groups and the Turkish army on the other hand.