The UN has warned that millions of displaced Syrians are going to face another harsh winter without proper shelters.
“6.7 million people in Syria are internally displaced. Our assessments show that a third of them lack proper shelter,” Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ramesh Rajasingham told a UN Security Council session on the Humanitarian Situation in Syria, on Wednesday.
He clarified that this means they live in damaged or unfinished buildings, in public spaces like schools, or in tents that don’t provide sufficient protection from the elements. “Winter weather is proving to be incredibly hard for those without adequate shelter, not to mention the very basics like fuel for heating, blankets, warm clothes and shoes,” he cautioned.
He noted that the UN estimate that more than 3 million people across all of Syria need this type of assistance this winter season. The UN official pointed out that heavy rains are causing flooding in some areas. Hundreds of tents in displacement sites in Idleb and western Aleppo have been damaged or destroyed by floods over the past month.
“As the weather gets colder over the coming weeks, and with continued fuel shortages, we expect people will, as they did last year, resort to burning anything they can find to try and keep themselves and their children warm, risking tent fires and poisoning from toxic fumes,” he said.
He shed light on the grave impact of the falling value of Syrian currency and the skyrocketing prices of commodities on people’s ability to secure their basic needs. “Today an estimated 9.3 million people in Syria are food insecure — that’s 1.4 million more people than a year ago and more than at any other time during the crisis.
About one million of them are severely food insecure — twice as many as last year — and we expect this number to increase.
Source-Kuna
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