The humanitarian organization "CARE" reported that three Syrian children died, while hundreds of thousands of people are at "high risk" following severe winter storms affecting Syria and neighboring countries. The organization warned in a report that "the onslaught of severe winter storms is exacerbating the living conditions of displaced Syrians, as well as Syrians living in Lebanon and Jordan, where temperatures are expected to drop to levels not seen in 40 years, reaching 14 degrees Celsius below zero."
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Turkey, the winter storms have destroyed 362 tents, affecting 2,124 displaced Syrians living in camps in Syria. They noted that a child in a camp in Qastal Maqdad, in the city of Afrin, died when the tent he was in collapsed due to the accumulation of snow on its roof, and the child's mother is currently in intensive care.
Additionally, two children aged 3 and 5 years died on Monday morning in a camp in northern Aleppo, Syria, when a fire broke out in their tent due to a heater. The children’s mother suffered serious burns and was taken to the hospital, according to the White Helmets organization.
The cold weather has caused severe hypothermia in two children in the Bilbel camps in Syria. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that the children are currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Afrin, Syria.
"CARE" stated that refugees in Lebanon live across vast areas of informal camps, lacking protection from the elements. The organization's director in Lebanon remarked, "People have no jobs or income, and they are not able to find work. They are already suffering from the consequences of an unprecedented economic crisis in Lebanon and have no means to protect themselves from the expected snowstorms."
