Syrian Arab Republic: UNICEF North East Syria Response Situation report # 12 - 05 November 2019
Highlights
• UNICEF partners reported that water shortages caused by the damage done to the Alok water pumping station in Alok village, Ras Al Ain subdistrict, which was allegedly hit during the ongoing hostilities, continues to affect some 400,000 people. Local sources are reporting that the price of bottled water has more than doubled due to the increased demand, reaching 200 to 250 SYP (0.39 - 0.49 USD) per 1.5 liters.
• DoH supported by UNICEF and WHO successfully launched Sub National Immunisation Days (SNIDs) in Ain Al Arab and Manbij. Through these campaigns over 8,400 children were reached.
Humanitarian Situation
• Turkish and Russian troops conducted their first joint ground patrols in north-east Syria on 1 November in accordance with the 22 October Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries.
• On 2 November, local sources reported that 13 people were killed, with many others sustaining injuries, in a car bomb explosion in Tal Abiad. No one claimed responsibility for the explosion that took place at the market.
• As of 31 October, according to UN OCHA the movement of total 215,119 people had been recorded. Of these some 108,514 people remain displaced while 106,605 people have returned to their areas of origin
• Out of those still displaced, 91,721 are residing in host communities in Al-Hasakeh, Ar-Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor governorates, while other 16,793 (3697 families) are being accommodated in 79 active collective shelters in Al-Hasakeh (78) and Ar-Raqqa (1) governorates. Twenty-six collective shelters previously hosting displaced populations mostly in Ras al-Ain are now empty.
• In Iraq, as of 4 November 2019, 14,040 Syrian refugees (including approximately 7,000 children) from North East Syria, have entered Dohuk, in north-western Iraq. The majority of refugees entering the country continue to be women, children, adolescents and young males. Among these refugees, 811 people have been given approval by security in northern Iraq to join their family members in other areas of KR-I. UNHCR continues to advocate with authorities for an out of camp alternative for new refugees as there are limited number of readily available camps in northern Iraq.
• As Bardarash camp in Dohuk is now full, newly arriving refugees are being hosted in Gawilan camp, and to date 1742 new refugees have arrived in the camp, where services and infrastructure are being expanded. Authorities in Dohuk are considering hosting additional Syrian refugees in Qaymawa camp, which has the capacity to host around 1,000 families but would require some rehabilitation for service provision to be established for the population.
• In Erbil, EJCC and partners (including UNICEF and UNHCR) have established a new reception center in Darashakran camp. A site for the establishment of a new refugee camp in Erbil governorate has not been identified yet, however, in Sulayamaniah, a multi-sectoral assessment mission with the government took place to Surdash camp to determine its suitability to host new refugees. Surdash camp was closed earlier this year but has facilities which can accommodate around 500 new families.
