Idlib – North-Press Agency
Residents of camps in the northern Idlib countryside in northern Syria are unable to access medical care in light of the absence of medical centers and the continuing spread of diseases, especially among children.
Among these camps is Ahl al-Tah camp, south of the city of Idlib, whose residents complain of very poor living and economic situations amid their daily need for many basic necessities
Medical conditions
Abdul Salam Abu Yousef, manager of Ahl al-Tah camp, told North-Press: "There are several chronic conditions such as diabetes, in addition to cases of paralysis and various disabilities. There are diseases prevalent among children such as leishmaniasis in addition to other skin diseases, so the suffering is very great, as there is no health center in the camp. This is in addition to our fears of the outbreak of coronavirus because of the large number of people."
According to Abu Yousef, the camp houses 225 displaced families from al-Tah town, all of whom are calling for relief and health aid, especially as the camp suffers from the absence of organizations that are supposed to provide them with monthly food baskets.
Abu Yousef said: "One of the most important needs is the food baskets, since the camp is not provided with a monthly basket. We also need bread and Ramadan meals, as these are needed by IDPs."
Abu Yousef echoed the camp residents' complaints about the lack of aid and said that the last aid that entered the camp was five months ago and was insufficient.
Unemployment
The camp’s residents complain of unemployment amid bad economic conditions, where everyone is unemployed and a family's daily expenses reach about 4,000 Syrian pounds. People are confused about how to manage their daily expenses, according to Abu Yousef.
Among the problems from which camp residents suffer are bad sewage networks that contribute to the spread of diseases and bad roads leading to the camp, which increase suffering, especially in winter, according to Abu Yousef.
Absence of a medical point
The situation is not limited to the Ahl al-Tah camp south of Idlib, but also includes most camps in northern Syria, including al-Itqan camp in Latakia countryside, whose residents suffer from the lack of a medical point treating the medical conditions prevalent in the camp.
In this regard, camp manager Hassan Darwish told North-Press that patients suffer greatly, especially as the nearest medical point is about 1 km away from the camp, while difficult medical cases such as amputation, paralysis, or cerebral atrophy are taken to hospitals in Idlib.
The camp houses about 400 displaced families from Jabal al-Akrad in the Latakia countryside. They are in need of almost every material, the most important of which are relief materials, according to Darwish.
Darwish said that a family's expenses range between 8,000 – 10,000 Syrian pounds on a daily basis, and most people are in debt and are forced to take out loans from grocery stores near the camp.
He pointed out that debts have accumulated, so people are in very bad situations due to debt and poverty.
Regarding the relief aid, Darwish said that some days ago an organization distributed relief aid to IDPs that was only sufficient for ten days, adding that a large number of families expect relief aid to be distributed on a monthly basis in order to sell it and manage their daily expenses.
With tens of thousands of displaced people on the Syrian-Turkish borders or in ad-hoc camps nearby, the absence of relief organizations, especially Turkish ones, remains the broad headline of the tragedy experienced by IDPs who complain of favoritism, especially when relief aid is distributed, if available, to camps at the expense of other camps that may have greater needs.