Harsh humanitarian conditions for about 30 families in “Omar” camp located in a mountainous area near “Sarmada” city north of Idlib
Sarmada city considered to be a destination for every displaced person, and has become the place for many of the random camps that were recently established after the large displacement movement in the “de-escalation” area in the southern countryside of Idlib and the northern and the western countryside of Hama, and after the bombing areas expanded to areas in the eastern and western countryside of Idlib, where many camps lack the most basic necessities of life, and inhabited by hundreds of families, because of their inability to rent houses and because of the inability of the main camp populations to accommodate the arrivals.
“Omar” Camp, is a model of these small and random camps, it is located near the border with Iskenderun in the northern countryside of Idlib, the camp suffers from a lack of livelihood, with no humanitarian activities in this relatively small camp, where a number of displaced families from several towns in the southern countryside of Idlib live in the camp.
In his testimony to the Syrian Observatory, one of the people in charge of the camp spoke about his living situation and the suffering of displaced families there, saying: “Omar camp is located on the road to Sarmada city in the northern countryside of Idlib, it was established on the 15th of October 2019, it is the home of about 30 displaced families from several towns in the southern countryside of Idlib, such as the towns of Kafrsajna, Ma’aret Hurmah, and Maarzita, the camp was built on a piece of agricultural land donated by a benefactor and now it lacks all the basic necessities of life, the camp is completely cut off from the surrounding areas because of the ruggedness of the only road connecting the camp with its surrounding areas.”
He continued: “the ground of the camp is muddy, and after the rainfall in the last few days swamps were formed immediately, and the displaced people faced great suffering after the sinking of parts of the tents, the camp is suffering from complete absence of services, where there are no toilets, no good roads, and the camp floor needs to be prepared”
The source describes the conditions of inhabitants of this camp and their physical and living situation as very poor, in addition to the absence of any organization that give any kind of assistance to them, where they suffer from the lack of role of these organizations in distributing food and drinking water, in addition to neglecting the health aspect, residents of the camp confirmed that they had not been visited by any organization or association since Camp was established, and the residents demanded to prepare the camp’s floor and to be provided with some tents, but nobody listens.
Also a displaced person from Omar camp, who is from Ma’aret Hurmah town in the southern Idlib countryside; spoke in his testimony to the Syrian Observatory about his situation and the suffering he lives with his family, saying: “I have been displaced with my family from Ma’aret Hurmah town in the southern countryside of Idlib since the beginning of the last events months ago, I moved between several camps in the Syrian north until it reached “Omar” camp near Sarmada city in the northern countryside of Idlib, it is a small camp and there is no livelihood, in light of the absence of care from humanitarian organizations operating in the Syrian north. The camp has not been supported by any kind of assistance, and all of its residents are in extreme poverty and there are no job opportunities, all families here are in urgent need of heating and food, the camp needs a lot of maintenance and services, where the extreme cold is badly affecting bodies of the children and women in light of the high prices of fuel and heating materials, a real tragic situation we live in this camp.”
The camp’s residents appealed to all humanitarian organizations to provide assistance and help the displaced people and provide the necessary emergency assistance, the camp needs its ground to be prepared, replace all tents, provide the displaced with heating, food, medical supplies, and drinking water, as well as pave the road to the outside of the camp.