Omar Hourani - Gaziantep
Activists from al-Rikban camp for Syrian refugees on the Syrian-Jordanian border continue their hunger strike for the third day in a row to protest the "international silence" towards the continued suffering of civilians trapped in the camp.
Abu Omar al-Homsi, one of the hunger strikers, says they try to draw the world's attention to their suffering. His hunger strike was optional, while thousands of children and women do not have the capacity to buy what they can if they find it.
Al-Homsi and his friends insist that their strike will not stop until after the end of the siege imposed on the camp residents, and help more than 10,000 families from mud houses and plastic tents shelter.
He says that the population of the camp has greatly decreased with the crackdown on the camp, where large numbers of families have been forced to go to an unknown fate in the areas controlled by the regime.
| Al-Rikban camp faces siege of the regime alone amid the desert (Al-Jazeera) |
Geographically fatal
The resident doctor in al-Rikban camp, Shukri al-Shehab, told Al-Jazeera Net that the regime's forces prevented all food, fuel and medical supplies from entering the camp. The prices and the inability of the majority of refugees to buy basic materials, causing the deaths of two children after being severely malnourished, Of the camp.
A young woman died of diarrhea and anemia, and another girl died of lack of medical care, all of whom died in less than a week, Chehab said.
He explained that the geographical nature of the camp increases the incidence of diarrhea, acute bronchitis and diseases affecting the elderly. Diarrhea is considered to be the most serious threat to the lives of children, noting that the camp witnessed cesarean deliveries and infections in women because of lack of health care.
The doctor points out that they rely on medicines coming from areas of control of the system, and that some nurses try to provide assistance even though they have not completed their studies and training, except for some cases received by the UNICEF medical point.
| Al-Rukban camp lacks basic elements of life (Al-Jazeera) |
An open sit-in
Pictures released by activists showed children searching for food in the garbage scattered on the outskirts of the camp, in reference to the extent of suffering experienced by the people in that desert area besieged.
On October 10, residents of al-Rikban camp began an open sit-in to demand that the international community pressure the Jordanian government and the Syrian regime to bring humanitarian aid to the camp. Ten people, mostly women, children and the elderly, And refused to transfer them to Jordan for treatment.
More than 60,000 refugees in the camp face very difficult conditions after the closure of the Jordanian border to aid a year ago, while the regime forces and pro-Iranian militias closed the only route to the camp through the town of Dameer about a month ago. Activists believe that these measures are aimed at ending the camp's existence and allowing the refugees to die or return to the areas of the regime and accept their fate.