Attachments
OVERALL FINDINGS
Quneitra is a largely agricultural governorate located in southern Syria in the Syrian Golan Heights. Three of the assessed communities in Quneitra had no pre-conflict population remaining on the last day of January:
Breiqa, Quneitra and Bir Ajam (all in Quneitra subdistrict). However, all three communities reported the presence of IDPs, with particularly large numbers reported in Bir Ajam (4,100 individuals) and Breiqa (5,500 individuals). Of the 26 communities assessed, five witnessed spontaneous returns in January. Of the three communities that saw IDPs return from Damascus and Rural Damascus, two reported that IDPs returned due to protection concerns, and two cited an escalation of conflict and a deteriorating security situation in host communities as having influenced IDPs’ decisions to return. KIs in the two communities reporting spontaneous refugee returns from Lebanon and Jordan, Ayoba and Kodneh, reported that refugees returned to reunite with their families.
All but one of the assessed communities reported hosting IDPs. The largest estimated numbers of IDPs were reported in Khan Arnaba (8,700), Breiqa (5,500) and Rafid (4,800). An estimated 204 – 236 IDPs arrived in five communities in Al-Khashniyyeh subdistrict in January. While members of the pre-conflict population most commonly lived in independent apartments or houses owned prior to the conflict across assessed communities, IDPs commonly lived in independent apartments and houses, as well as shared apartments or houses. The most common shelter lived in by IDPs in Rafid (hosting approximately 4,800 IDPs) and Sayda (hosting approximately 1,913 IDPs) was tents, while IDPs in Qseibeh (reporting 2,750 IDPs present) most commonly lived in collective public spaces.
Of the communities assessed, all but two reported a lack of fuel, while drinking water was reportedly fine to drink and sufficient to cover household needs across all of them. Nonetheless, 18 communities reported problems with latrine functionality, such as insufficient water to flush and an inability to empty septic tanks, and 38% of communities reported that diarrhoea was a predominant health concern in their community in January. The most commonly reported method of garbage disposal reported in Quneitra was burying or burning. All but one of the nine communities that reported this method of garbage disposal also reported that acute respiratory infections were a common health concern in their community. Eight communities reported the absence of health facilities in their area, while three, Breiqa, Majdolieah and Rweiheneh, reported that none of the assessed medical items were available in January.
All but four communities reported that residents experienced barriers to accessing food, but no extreme food-based coping strategies were reported. The vast majority of KIs in these communities reported that residents either lacked sufficient funds to purchase available food or could not buy food due to the prohibitive costs of some items (please refer to the Syria market monitoring exercise for additional information on food prices in Quneitra). The average price of a food basket was more than 50% of the reported average monthly household income of less than 50,000 SYP. Business or trade, unstable employment and agriculture were cited as the main sources of income in most communities. All communities reported strategies to deal with insufficient income, and children in approximately 31% of assessed communities were sent to work or beg to supplement household incomes . Nine assessed communities reported that some children could not attend school, most commonly due to the destruction of facilities and long distances to services