Mercy Corps: Lack of Aid and Access Threatens Hundreds of Thousands Displaced in Southern Syria

Global organization warns of humanitarian catastrophe in the making

AMMAN, Jordan — The humanitarian situation in parts of southern Syria is worsening, reports the global organization Mercy Corps, with supplies difficult to obtain and security constraints preventing aid workers from reaching trapped civilians.

According to iMMAP’s Population Monitoring Initiative, an estimated 215,000 people displaced since mid-June still remain stranded along the Jordanian and Israeli borders, despite conflicting reports on the number of displaced who returned to their homes following a cease-fire agreement reached over the weekend.

"Certainly some may choose to try to return home, or to flee to Quinetra, given that the alternative is to remain stranded in open fields with no shelter, food, clean water or medical care," says Arnaud Quemin, Mercy Corps Country Director for Syria. "Most people tell us they are too afraid to try to return. They don't know if agreements between the warring parties will hold or where the next offensive will go. They don’t know what will happen if they decide to return home with their families.”

Mercy Corps is responding to the single largest displacement of people since the start of the seven-year conflict by distributing clean water, food and other essentials to more than 70,000 people in southwestern Syria. The aid organization warns that supplies are becoming scarce.

“Many of the main routes used to deliver aid into the country have been cut off and lifesaving food, water and other supplies are more and more difficult to obtain inside Syria. Unless goods can come into the area soon, providing sufficient food will quickly become a real problem,” says Quemin. “We buy food locally where we can, but there is next to nothing in the marketplaces now. There’s no way for business owners to restock.”

Mercy Corps has been working in Syria since 2008. Since the beginning of the current crisis, the global organization has met the needs of millions of people in Syria and refugees in surrounding countries by distributing emergency food and supplies, increasing access to clean water and sanitation, and creating safe spaces and activities to help children heal from trauma.

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