IDLIB, Syria
Residents in the picturesque green lands of southern Idlib countryside describe camps for Syrians fleeing from Syria's northern Hama as “misery camps” because of terrible conditions, an AA visit to the area revealed.
Syrians from Hama were being forced to flee their homes because of the regime’s incessant airstrikes. The displaced families were seen in tents under trees, who hoped that it would hide them from the regime’s pilots, who don’t hesitate to drop bombs on civilians.
The refugee families said they now felt safer in the green olive fields and orchards in Idlib’s countryside than their own homes in Hama.
AA witnessed the camps that have no official name. However, residents in nearby areas call them “misery camps” because of the terrible living standards, which it is feared would worsen during winter.
The camps were yet to get any humanitarian aid and people there were suffering from starvation. However, despite the miserable situation, children could still be seen, smiling and playing.
A displaced mother said they had not eaten bread in two days. Also, there was a severe shortage of water and people were using rain as their only water source, she added.
The mother said she sent her 5-year-old child to a nearby village to protect him from the biting cold.
Abu Samer complained about the absence of international humanitarian aid organizations to help them. Samer said people were burning branches of olive trees to keep themselves warm.
Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes in Hama’s northern countryside because of President Bashar al-Assad regime’s airstrikes. People who stayed behind in Hama were surviving in tunnels and caves, refugees said.
Opposition forces in March 2011 began protests to topple Assad, a struggle that turned into a civil war in July of that year after regime forces violently suppressed protests.
More than 190,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began, according to UN figures published last August.
Amnesty International said more than 10 million people have been forced out of their homes; at least four million of them have become refugees, mostly in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
www.aa.com.tr/en
