The United Nations predicts "one of the cruelest winters" in Syria due to the fuel crisis

MADRID, 9 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) fears that next winter will be "one of the cruelest" in Syria's recent history due to cuts in fuel and electricity supplies that will endanger almost half of the country's population.

OCHA fears that six million Syrians (out of a total population of 14.6 million) will need help to get through the winter, 33 percent more than last year, especially in the higher elevations of the country, such as the countryside. of Damascus or the surroundings of Latakia, scene of frosts during the winter months.

Vulnerable communities of displaced people reside there in settlement camps, the scene of fires during the winter months due to the misuse of heating devices.

Also due to winter dates, OCHA registers an increase in respiratory diseases, whose care is impeded by roadblocks that block access to basic health care services.

To this must be added, this year, a particular deterioration in socioeconomic conditions due to the collapse of the Syrian pound and the global energy crisis that has led to rationing of electricity supply, fuel increases or energy cuts, and the general increase in essential goods

All of this is happening in a country where hundreds of thousands of people live with just one hour of electricity a day and are in dire need of emergency kits to get them through the winter.

OCHA regrets that the humanitarian capacity is being hampered by the lack of resources summed up in the lack of funds from the so-called Humanitarian Response Plan for Syria, which has only received 26.6 percent of the requested money (a total of 26 million euros out of a total of 140 million) about to enter the last quarter of the year.

Similarly, OCHA fears that the target of two million euros specifically earmarked for winter assistance will not be reached, nor the additional funds to help the 420,000 Syrians who grow wheat from November.