The first confirmed case of Coronavirus was recently announced in North West Syria: home to over four million people, many of whom have been displaced multiple times and now live in overcrowded camps which lack the very basic means to contain the spread of the virus.
During the last couple of months, I’ve been working closely with our partner’s teams inside Syria. It was part of our regular calls to discuss how our work might change if COVID-19 was confirmed within our area of operations. A topic that we all feared and always ended with words of hope that it doesn’t happen, but we knew for sure it was just a matter of time before it was a reality we have to deal with.
Since the first case was announced, the number of confirmed cases grew quickly - making our fears beyond overwhelming.
Precautionary measures like social distancing and self-isolation are not particularly applicable in a warzone - especially in the already overpopulated camps, which have seen an influx of almost one million displaced people fleeing the military offensive to retake Idlib early this year.
Many are still living in the open under olive trees or on the sides of the roads, others are sharing a single tent with other families, and almost all have no running water and can’t afford buying food. To make matters worse, the already over-stretched health system they rely on was severely decimated in the period before the last escalation: some estimations count less than 100 ventilators in all health facilities in the north west.
What are people most worried about?
I feel confident to say that the term “vulnerable and high-risk groups” - which usually describes people who are older than 60 years or who have health conditions like lung or heart disease, diabetes or conditions that affect their immune system - can actually describe the majority of people in the north west. The combination of war-related traumas, high presence of non-communicable diseases and infectious diseases, malnutrition and lack of clean drinking water, together with the crowdedness, rough conditions and lack of health services makes everyone vulnerable to respiratory infections.
But this is not even the top concern of the people in the north west! Especially for those who survived the long years of continuous bombardment witnessed how barrel bombs fell over their homes and schools, wiping their neighbourhoods off the map; who lived through the sleepless nights in the fields while airstrikes destroyed their towns and cities; and survived the harsh long months of siege, hunger, displacement, the floods and frigid nights under olive trees.
Contracting the virus is not their most pressing concern when they are unable to feed their children, especially after the latest sudden and dramatic collapse of the Syrian Pound, which have led to a skyrocketing prices and acute shortage of vital supplies, such as food, medicine and fuel.
The main concern for almost 80% of the Syrian people who now live under the poverty line is to put bread on their table so they could survive for another day!
Keeping hopeful in uncertain times
With children and families in Idlib and northern Aleppo already facing unprecedented poverty, food insecurity, water scarcity and a Pandemic, the UN Security Council approved a devastating resolution on cross-border aid to this region on July 11.
The decision allows just one border crossing to remain open to deliver critical relief, while closing a second crossing that 1.3 million people in northern Aleppo had relied on for their survival. This decision will only add to the disappointment of millions of vulnerable people who will be deprived of essential assistance, particularly food and medicine, at a time when it’s most needed.
I’ve spent a good part of the past decade working in the humanitarian sector in Syria, mostly with Save the Children teams and its local partners, and throughout those years I’ve had my share of despair, and at times I've almost given up. Maintaining hope was never an easy task; I have learnt that as the humanitarian work in Syria is challenging and demanding, but it’s also extremely rewarding and motivating.
Children and families in Syria have endured unspeakable horrors - yet even in the bleakest of times of uncertainty and adversity, they not only kept themselves going, but they also taught me to never give up hope!
Written by a Save the Children humanitarian field worker (Name withheld for safeguarding compliance)
URGENT CORONAVIRUS APPEAL
