The Syrian Civil Defense Begins A Rehabilitation Project of Roads in 30 Camps

The camps were selected after conducting a needs assessment by the Syrian Civil Defense for 626 camps last summer

The suffering of civilians in the northern Syrian camps is repeated every winter, in light of the inability of the weak and fragile infrastructure there to face the weather conditions and rains. These camps were and are still the focus of the Syrian Civil Defense, which is working hard within the available resources to close the large gap of needs in these camps in terms of service, especially the random ones.

Today, Thursday, February 25, the Syrian Civil Defense began a service project to rehabilitate roads in 30 camps, to improving civilians' access to aid and basic facilities that are necessary for their life. As part of the winter response plan for the camps in northwestern Syria, where roads in most of the camps and their environs are turned into pools of mud that are difficult to enter and exit to deliver supplies to the population, if there were any Or, students go to schools. Especially since a large number of camps still lack their roads of gravel layer that gives a kind of solidity to the ground to facilitate movement on it.

The project includes rehabilitating roads with gravel in random and regular camps and main roads. The camps were selected after conducting a needs assessment by the Syrian Civil Defense for 626 camps last summer.

The camps most in need were chosen based on this evaluation and they are distributed into three main areas. The first nine camps in Azaz and Jarablus in the northern and eastern countryside of Aleppo. The second region in the northern countryside of Idlib and western Aleppo with fourteen camps and the third region is seven camps in Jisr al-Shughour west of Idlib.

The project includes carrying out various civil works, including digging, leveling, and paving the foundation ground for the targeted roads, and then the work of supplying and stacking gravel, in addition to implementing rain drains within Badama Khirbet al-Jouz road. The project is implemented under the supervision of the Syrian Civil Defense and through contractors.

The total length of the roads that will be worked on is about 35 km, whether they are inside the camps or connected to them, or main roads. The number of beneficiaries in those camps is estimated at 45,000 people.

During the last period, northwestern Syria faced two storms, the first in mid-January accompanied by rain and snow. The second at the beginning of February, and the rains and torrents caused deaths and material damage. Alongside low temperatures, which exacerbated the suffering of the displaced civilians especially children and women, and the lack of all the necessities of life, a child died and 4 other children were injured due to the collapse of their tents, where their walls were built of "concrete bricks" and nylon roofs.

In the two storms, the Syrian Civil Defense teams responded to more than 283 camps in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo that were damaged by the torrents and rains. The number of tents that were completely damaged (destroyed or flooded) reached more than 600 tents. The number of tents that were partially damaged (water leaked into it or surrounded by water) is more than 3,500. The number of families that have been severely affected is estimated at 4,000 families.

Since the beginning of the current winter, the Syrian Civil Defense has intensified its operations in the camps in Idlib and Aleppo. From September 2020 until today, February 25, 2021, they have carried out more than 25 thousand various operations in the camps for the displaced civilians in northern Syria. More than 15,000 of them were service works and focused on the operations of opening roads. Preparing floors for tents and lining them with gravel, opening water paths in addition to the emergency response operations for these camps.

More than one million civilians were displaced by the Assad regime and its Russian ally. They live in camps on the border strip in Idlib and Aleppo countryside, The number of these camps exceeds 1,300 camps, including more than 400 random camps, lacking basic infrastructures such as roads, water, and sanitation networks.