UN warns of humanitarian tragedy in Syria
UN agencies have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in Syria, with an estimated four million people in need of assistance. “We are watching a humanitarian tragedy unfold before our eyes”, said UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos. “We must do all we can to reassure the people that we care and that we will not let them down”.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), typhoid fever had broken out in an opposition-held region from drinking contaminated water from the Euphrates River. “There is not enough fuel or electricity to run the pumps so people drink water from the Euphrates which is contaminated, probably with sewage”, said the WHO representative in Syria, Elisabeth Hoff. Around 2500 people in the north-eastern Deir az-Zor province are reported to have been infected.
Another disease, Leishmaniasis, transmitted by sand-flies and which causes skin ulcers that resemble leprosy, is spreading in Syria with around 14000 cases in the Hassakah province, according to the WHO. “It is a very high number and spreading with the movement of people. Internally displaced from Aleppo have brought it to Tartous”, said Hoff.
There are about two million people who are internally displaced in Syria according to the UN. Over 850000 are refugees in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and North Africa, with around 3000 people fleeing the country every day.
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