Snow storm brings death, sickness to Syrian refugees

The regional storm dubbed "Alexa" added more misery to lives of the Syrian refugees living in Lebanon after it hit the country on Wednesday, causing heavy snows in the mountainous areas where they have erected rickety makeshift camps. Newborn Abdullah Charlie was one of the youngest victims of the storm. His mother, who comes from the embattled city of Homs, found him dead under their tent in the Hariria town in eastern Bekaa, a medical source told Xinhua. Fadwa al-Oussairi, a refugee living in the Gaza town in West Bekaa, told Xinhua that the Lebanese Red Cross transported eight refugees who fell sick due to the cold from her refugee camp. Joseph Menhem, a doctor from Marjeyoun in South Lebanon, underscored that children are the most affected by the cold and the situation could worsen if adequate heating equipment is not supplied to refugees, adding that at least 5 refugee children were transported to a hospital Saturday because of cold. Samer al-Hassaka, originally from the Damascus, emphasized that it wasn't just the cold that refugees suffered from but inadequate housing. He said that he spent two nights shoveling snow from the top of his tent in Ibl El Saki, a small town in South Lebanon, out of fear it could possibly cave in on the heads of his children. Crying and lamenting about the lack of supplies from aid agencies, Um Mustafa al-Azzi, a woman from Syria's Aleppo, said aid agencies did not provide adequate help to her family and around 1,000 other refugees in Ibl El Saki area, saying that refugees had no other choice but to wait out the winter season so that the floods would end. A local activist in the Bekaa region, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the harsh conditions the Syrian refugees face make them vulnerable to various health risks and complained that donor countries do not make any serious attempts to help them during the cold season. Abou al-Hadi, another refugee who did not give his full name, told Xinhua, "We faced the cold for five consecutive days while lacking any kind of heating oil, or firewood." "We were burning nylon bags and plastic cans to provide heating for my five children," he said. "We raised our voices asking for heating oil but it was in vain. Blankets were the only tool left for us to keep warm but most of them were wet." Abou Firas al-Hameidan said that although he shoveled snow from atop his tent, water kept leaking through, forcing him to move his children to a nearby tent to keep them warm even though there was little room for all the family members. "I had to spend most of the nights standing, forced to accept this humiliating situation and feeling that there is no more value for the human life," he said. Lebanon's caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour said on Friday he was "disappointed" with relief agencies that " closed their doors at the first sign of the storm and offered no help whatsoever." He blamed this "miserable reality" on the international community and the Lebanese state which was hesitant to build durable refugee camps. He remarked that over 100,000 Syrian refugees were currently spread over 431 random camps, 297 of which were in Bekaa outside the reach of any aid. Lebanon has called in June for the international community to recognize the intense burden put on the state by the high influx of refugees and asked the donor countries to fulfill their pledges to help the government serve the refugee population. Source: XINHUA