Syria, the lost generation in the Al-Hol camp: 79 children died in the space of a year

ROME – “Between two fires: danger and despair in the Al-Hol camp in Syria”, is the title of the new report by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on the tragic living conditions in the Al Hol camp, in north-eastern Syria, about 660 km north-east of the capital Damascus, where 79 children died in 2021 and still today over 50,000 people, most of them minors, they are withheld. 64% of the camp’s population is under the age of 16, and one in two people is under the age of 12. A seven-year-old boy with second-degree burns on his face and arms had to wait two days to get permission from the camp’s authorities camp before being transferred and died en route to hospital, under armed surveillance, separated from his mother and in agony. He had been rushed to the MSF clinic inside the camp and it would take no more than an hour’s drive to access the life-saving care he needed.

The causes of children’s deaths. In 2021, 35% of the people who died in the camp were children under the age of 16. Among the causes of child deaths are violence, but also children hit by water trucks or fallen into puddles of dirty water. In May 2021, a 5-year-old boy was hit by a truck inside the center and rushed to the MSF clinic where the team requested to be transferred to hospital for emergency surgery. Despite the emergency, it took hours for his transfer to be approved and he died en route to the hospital, alone and unconscious. Furthermore, there are many reports of boys who, upon reaching adolescence, are forcibly separated from their mothers or guardians and nothing or almost nothing is known about their fate.

Children taken from their parents. “We have seen and heard many dramatic stories in the Al-Hol detention camp – says Martine Flokstra, MSF operations manager in Syria – children who died from prolonged delays in accessing urgent medical care and others who, according to the testimonies collected, forcibly removed from their mothers when they reach the age of 11 without ever meeting again” r“Often access to medical care, for those who obtain permission, turns into an ordeal. Children needing treatment at the main hospital, which is about an hour’s drive from the camp, are accompanied by armed guards and in most cases parents are denied permission to accompany them. Al-Hol is in fact a huge open-air prison, where mostly children live, many of whom were born there. They are deprived of their childhood and are condemned to a life exposed to violence and exploitation, with no education, limited medical care and no prospects for the future.” Al-Hol camp was designed to provide safe and temporary shelter and humanitarian assistance to civilians displaced by the conflict in Syria and Iraq, but the situation has changed after people were relocated from Islamic State-controlled territories in December 2018. . Today the camp is in fact an open-air prison, amidst insecurity and terrible living conditions.

The responsibilities that countries must assume. “Members of the Global Coalition against ISIS, as well as other countries whose citizens remain detained in Al-Hol and other detention facilities and camps in northeastern Syria, have abandoned their citizens. These countries must assume their responsibilities and find alternative solutions for the people held in the camp and instead, not only have they delayed or refused to repatriate their citizens, but in some cases have gone as far as depriving them of their citizenship, making them stateless” concludes Flokstra of MSF. “Despite the conditions of insecurity and violence in Al-Hol, more than three years after the arrival of over 50,000 people, not enough has been done to close the camp. There are still no long-term alternatives to end this arbitrary and indefinite detention. The situation will only get worse as long as people are held in Al-Hol, leaving a new generation at risk of exploitation and with no hope for a childhood free from violence.”

MSF in Syria. After 11 years of war, there are 14.6 million people in Syria in need of assistance. It is the country with the largest number of internally displaced people in the world (6.9 million) and most of them are women and children. In areas where teams have access, such as north-west and north-east Syria, MSF manages and supports hospitals and health centres, and provides healthcare through mobile clinics.