‘45,000 Syrians in appalling conditions’

The UN refugee agency says nearly 45,000 displaced Syrians are living in “appalling” conditions in an area of the north of the country held by foreign-backed militants.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday that the displaced people were battling subzero temperatures in makeshift camps in the Azaz area, which is located between the northern city of Aleppo and the border with Turkey.

The agency added that it had delivered 15,000 blankets and 3,000 tents to the displaced Syrians earlier this week within the framework of the “first delivery of winter emergency relief.”

“It is increasingly difficult for people to live in that area because of the low temperatures — winter is very severe,” the BBC quoted UNHCR Director for the Middle East and North Africa Yacoub el-Hillo as saying.

Hillo noted that the delivery of tents and blankets “could not have happened without the Syrian government.”

On January 11, the UNHCR said 100,000 Syrians had left the country over the previous 30 days, and the total number of refugees had topped the 600,000 mark.

It added that a total of 612,134 Syrians had been registered or were in the process of being registered as refugees in neighboring countries and North Africa.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

And several international human rights organizations say the foreign-sponsored militants have committed war crimes.