AKKAR, Lebanon
As another cold snap sweeps across the Middle East, the lives of displaced Syrian families in Lebanon's northern Akkar refugee camps have become even more precarious.
Displaced Syrians have faced harsh weather conditions since a storm – dubbed "Yohan" – struck Lebanon last week. On Thursday, their situation worsened further with the advent of a new storm, this one dubbed "Wendy."
Refugee camps in Lebanon have suffered major shortages of food and heating fuel ever since aid organizations decided late last year to reduce the volume of relief assistance due to funding shortfalls.
In Lebanon's northern Qaneyya camp near the Syrian border – which hosts some 300 displaced Syrian families – a significant number of children have died of hypothermia, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent.
"Most of them are unable to move. Their tiny extremities have frozen, and they're confined to their tents, hoping the sun will come out soon," the correspondent said.
Braving the biting cold with a smile on his face, seven-year-old Hassan stood outside his tent.
"We have nothing here," he said. "We need clothes and diesel fuel; we need everything."
Fatima al-Homsi, 40, who managed to escape the violence in her native city of Homs, said the tents had "nearly fallen on the kids' heads due to the storm."
"We struggle to secure our children's needs. But due to the storm, we're left with no drinking water, clothes or fuel. Most of the kids are hungry and sick," al-Homsi said.
Meanwhile, 45-year-old Zeinah al-Safadi said that relief workers often visited the camp.
"They take photos and promise to deliver assistance," she said. "But it never comes."
"Officials from Lebanon's Red Cross also come by regularly, but they never assist us. It's reached the point that we can't find clean drinking water," al-Safadi lamented.
While men chop down trees for firewood, a woman in her 40s explains that, although chopping down trees is illegal in Lebanon, they "have no other means of heating."
"Without the firewood, most of the children would be dead by now," she said.
Faisal al-Mohammad, who also hails from the Syrian city of Homs, said that Lebanese residents of the northern town of Akroum had extended substantial assistance to the struggling Syrian refugees.
"Some have offered to host us in their homes. Can we ask them for diesel fuel as well? " al-Mohammad wondered.
According to UN figures, some 1.2 million Syrians have sought refuge in Lebanon since civil war erupted in their country almost four years ago.
