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Thousands of Syrians fleeing a government offensive in the southwestern province of Deraa face new life-threatening risks: scorpions, snakes, diseases and dehydration
At least 15 Syrians are died in makeshift camps near the Jordanian border. According to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, "scorpion bites, dehydration and diseases transmitted by contaminated water". Twelve of the dead were children; two women and one elderly man are also dead.
According to the United Nations, more than 320,000 people have been displaced in the Deraa region by fighting. Most of them live in makeshift camps near the Jordanian and Israeli borders without adequate shelter, food or water. Thousands of people sleep in the open desert
Temperatures can rise above 110 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, then plunge dozens of degrees at night.
Jordan and Israel do not allow refugees to enter their territory. both provide help near the border. Jordan, which has hosted about 1.3 million Syrian refugees during the Seven Years War, is feared to be destabilized by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of others. He closed his border with Syria after a car bomb attack that killed six members of the Jordanian security forces in a military post at the border.
Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, urged Jordan to consider allowing the new wave of displaced persons to enter the country temporarily.
"Hostilities in the border region threaten life and leave no choice but to seek refuge in neighboring Jordan," he said on Thursday. "In view of the immediate dangers, I plead for the granting of a temporary refuge in Jordan to those in need of security and for the international community to provide immediate and substantial support to Jordan, in the spirit of solidarity and sharing of responsibilities. "
27, United Nations humanitarian convoys were unable to cross the border and enter Dara'a because of violence and a lack of security guarantees, according to a press release of the United Nations Humanitarian Agency
. The border shows families grouped around blue tarpaulins or lying on the ground, while soldiers stand guard behind the border fence.
The International Rescue Committee has a mobile clinic in a buffer zone near the border crossing between Nassib, Syria and Jaber, Jordan, where about 60,000 people have gathered after fleeing Dara's and surroundings.
The team – a doctor, a nurse and a midwife – has been She has treated at least 50 people over the last three days.
Rachel Howard, Acting Health Coordinator of the International Rescue Committee in Jordan, said that several pregnant women were among those in medical distress who had been referred to them. Although the organization has not yet dealt with cases of scorpion stings or snake bites, Ms. Howard said that it was most likely because they focused their efforts on the reproductive health.
But exposure to the elements was another source of concern. "In addition to pregnancy, we have seen diarrhea, dehydration and heat stroke, the environmental elements are rather harsh and the shelters are improvised," Howard said. "They are visibly in distress – who would not be? "
The fighting is progressing closer and closer to the Jordanian border.Friday, Syrian media reported that government troops had reached the border at Nassib.
Howard said the biggest difference between Thursday and the day before was that the increase of smoke was visible on the Syrian side of the border, and the fire of the artillery could be heard from where it was stationed on the Jordanian side. In the distance, she says.
For those who have fled, there is more than waiting for a resolution of the battle.The United Nations Security Council has met in camera Thursday to discuss the a situation in southwestern Syria. The Syrian government's attack in the region, with the support of its ally Russia, violated a negotiated ceasefire last year that considered the Daraa region as a de-escalation zone.
Several members of the Security Council Sweden, represented by its ambassador to the United Nations, Olof Skoog, called on all parties involved in the conflict to consider a ceasefire. S addressing reporters before the meeting, he also urged Jordan to "urgently strengthen the protection of civilians".
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