Syria: 62 children died this year in camps

Sixty-two children have died in two IDP camps in northeastern Syria since early 2021, the NGO Save the Children lamented on Thursday (September 23), stressing the urgent need to repatriate foreign children trapped in the country. insecurity.

In a new report entitled “When will I start living?”, The NGO describes the unsustainable living conditions in the Al-Hol and Roj camps, controlled by Kurdish forces and sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people. , including some 40,000 children, including families of foreign jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group.

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Malnutrition, disease, health insecurity, fires, 62 children, or about two per week, have died in the Al-Hol camp since the beginning of the year, the NGO said, while 73 people, including two children, were murdered.

In Al-Hol, only 40% of children receive an education, underlines the NGO, while in Roj, 55% of households claim to be aware of children under 11 working.

"It is more urgent than ever that the foreign governments having nationals in Al-Hol and Roj (...) assume their responsibilities and repatriate the children and their families"

, warns the organization.

In its report, Save the Children singles out European countries as well as Canada and Australia for their inaction.

According to the NGO, London has repatriated only four children of Britons out of sixty living in the camps, while Paris has repatriated 35 children of French out of no less than 320 who reside there.

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In recent months, Germany, Finland and Belgium have completed the repatriation of a group of mothers and children

, underlines long. Despite repeated exhortations from the Kurds, most countries refuse to repatriate their citizens, contenting themselves with trickle-down repatriations for fear of possible terrorist acts on their soil.

In its report, the NGO reports the testimonies of several children, including Maryam, 11, from Lebanon.

she confided in May.

The little girl has since died, her mother injured and her brother missing in an unsuccessful attempt to escape the camp, according to Save the Children.