Disease and harsh conditions have claimed the lives of
about 90 people - two-thirds of them children under the age of 5 -
who wanted to reach a refugee camp in north-eastern Syria, a UN
agency reported on Tuesday.
They were fleeing the village of Baghuz, the last stronghold of the
Islamic State group in eastern Syria.
The main causes of death were "hypothermia, pneumonia, dehydration or
malnutrition complications," the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.
As of March 3, 90 people have died, either en route; shortly after
arriving at the camp; or after referral for treatment, the UN agency
said.
Between February 22 and March 1, about 15,000 people reached al-Hol
camp from Baghuz, where the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF) have been battling Islamic State militants.
OCHA said that the al-Hol camp population stands at 56,002
individuals, of whom more than 90 per cent are women and children.
Some children are arriving at the camp without their parents.
The al-Hol camp has been receiving internally displaced persons
fleeing the area around eastern Euphrates, where SDF have been waging
battles to uproot the Islamic State group from its last remaining
pockets in eastern Syria.
Many of those displaced had walked for days or travelled in open
trucks until they reached the areas controlled by the US-backed
forces.
According to activists in the area, refugees had to spend several
nights in the open air before they are given a tent to stay in al-Hol
camp.
Fadwa Baroud, a UN spokesperson in Damascus, told dpa that the UN in
Syria, non-governmental organization partner groups and relevant
authorities are providing life-saving assistance and services to all
new arrivals.
"This includes around the clock emergency health and protection
assistance, with all new arrivals receiving food, water, shelter, and
warm clothes and blankets," she said.
"The most pressing needs for those displaced remain shelter, water
and sanitation hygiene, health and protection, with physical and
psychological health, particularly vulnerable groups such as pregnant
women, children and elderly people," Baroud added.
International agencies have called for additional financial resources
to meet the extensive needs at al-Hol camp.
The spokesperson of the International Committee for the Red Cross
(ICRC) in Syria, Adnan Hezam, described the situation inside the camp
as "tragic."
"People are stressed and tired," he said, adding that new arrivals
are in worse condition than the ones who arrived earlier.
He added that the camp is housing more people than for which it has
capacity, and more arrivals are expected.
"Our teams are giving all the care for all refugees arriving, women,
elderly and children in the camp, but of course we have great concern
for children who are arriving without their parents," he added.
Syria's Kurdish-led forces resumed their operation to capture Baghuz
on Friday, after a lull in fighting to evacuate civilians and family
members of Islamic State from the area.
Thousands of civilians and family members of Islamic State militants
have been evacuated from the village.
People who fled the Islamic State group's last holdout of Baghouz, in Syria's northern Deir Ezzor province, ride in the back of trucks in an area controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Foces (SDF). AFP