Attachments
Highlights
• At least 50,000 people have reportedly been displaced since 31 January as a result of the ongoing intense fighting in Aleppo governorate. Eighty per cent are reported to be children and women.
• Based on estimates of 300,000 people in eastern Aleppo city, approximately 129,000 children at risk of being cut off from essential supplies and services.
• Water supply to Aleppo governorate continues to be cut off, since 16 January.
• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says “shocking violations and abuses are committed every day” during escalation of hostilities.
• Fuel shortage is affecting health facilities and other infrastructure that depends on generators, in Aleppo, Idleb and Lattakia governorates.
• UNICEF has dispatched family hygiene kits to meet the needs of at least 100,000 displaced and affected people in Afrin, Azaz, Orem and western rural Aleppo and Idleb.
• Water trucking to 4,000 people (800 families) in Haramein camp and 3,000 people (600 families) in A’zaz city has started as of 5 February.
• Health and nutrition supplies were deployed for prepositioning in key hospitals and PHCs in eastern Aleppo and PHCs. Health kits and nutritional supplies were also deployed to other locations with displaced communities serving Azzaz, Afrin and rural Idlib (50,000 people).
• A 7-truck UNICEF/SARC convoy reached the previously hard-to-reach towns of Nubul and Zahra with supplies for 30,000 people including 20,000 children.
• In Deraa, as of 11 February humanitarian organizations are reporting up to 70,000 IDPs, following intensified attacks on Sheikh Meskine, Abtaa, Nawa, Da’el and surrounding areas. The vast majority of the IDPs are women and children. This is the largest displacement in several months in the area.
• In Deraa governorate, UNICEF has provided emergency health kits for 35,000 people to 6 local clinics and distributed family hygiene kits for 45,000 people.
Humanitarian Developments
Aleppo
At least 50,000 people have reportedly been displaced since January 31 as a result of the ongoing intense fighting and advancement of Government of Syria forces and its allies in the northern Aleppo governorate. The Camp Coordination and Management (CCCM) reported that:
• 15,000 newly displaced people are accommodated in camps at the Syrian border with Turkey, close to Bab Al-Salameh. They are joining a caseload of up to 50,000 IDPs who were already in the camps.
• 9,000 people took refuge in Azaz town.
• 3,000 people are reportedly displaced in Afrin town.
• 3,000 have fled to western rural Aleppo • An unknown number of displaced people have continued to Idleb seeking to cross into Turkey through Bab Al-Hawa • 5,600 people from Lattakia have been admitted to Turkey via the Guvecci and Arfali crossing points and are being accommodated in the Suruc and Guvecci camps as well as in the host communities.
• Health assessments have shown that 80 per cent of the displaced people are women and children.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released a statement pointing to shocking violations and abuses being committed on a daily basis. Reports also point to child casualties as a result of ongoing military operations, and at least three health clinics destroyed. UNICEF is also concerned about separation of children from families as they flee the violence.
The border crossing into Kilis province is reportedly closed to all movement except severe medical cases and humanitarian convoys. UNICEF and partners inside Turkey are pre-positioning supplies in Kilis to enable rapid response should refugees be allowed to cross into Turkish territory. While humanitarian organizations are responding to the needs of those displaced in Afrin and Azaz districts, ongoing clashes are making access to populations in need increasingly difficult.
UNICEF was able to reach the villages of Nubul and Zahra, where an estimated 30,000 people who have been hard-to-reach for the past three years.
UNICEF and partners are prioritizing preparation for delivery of critical humanitarian assistance into eastern Aleppo city. Based on an estimated 300,000 people inside this area, it is likely that there 129,000 children at risk of being cut off from essential supplies and services if humanitarian assistance is not allowed into the city.
Aleppo governorate remains cut off from water since 16 January when supply from Al Khafseh water treatment facility on the Euphrates River was deliberately cut off, affecting over 2 million people.
Deraa
Several IDP families around Tal Shihab are reportedly without shelter and the overall hosting capacity in the western area is reaching its limit.
Sanitation and winter items also appear to be high priority given the number of IDPs not hosted by communities or in communal shelters.
Clinics have started reporting lack of medical items, in particular surgical items, orthopaedic and anaesthetic items. Several clinics are reportedly affected by the strikes and NGOs report constraints is sending medical supplies.