The announcement earlier this week by the World Food Program (WFP) that it would end its food aid to Syria from January revived the concerns of displaced people in the northwest of the country, overwhelmed by poverty after more than 12 years of civil war.
“With the cessation of aid, the suffering will increase exponentially,” the director of the Maram camp in Atmé, Ali Farhat, told AFP.
“Some people tell me: […] “We’re going to die of hunger,” he added.
In a press release published Monday, the WFP said it “regretted” having to “announce the end of its food aid to Syria in January 2024, due to lack of sufficient funds”.
The UN agency will continue to “support families in urgent situations and affected by natural disasters across the country through smaller and more targeted emergency interventions”.
“Funding” is a “problem that the program faces throughout the world,” the WFP told AFP, whose activities can be reduced or increased depending on needs and available resources.
In September, the agency warned that a lack of money, forcing it to cut rations, could push 24 million more people to the brink of starvation.
In July, 45% of aid recipients in Syria had to be excluded, according to the WFP.
The displaced people of the Maram camp find it difficult to hide their worry.
Areas controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, former local branch of al-Qaeda) group in Idlib province are home to three million people, around half of whom are displaced and spread across hundreds of camps overcrowded.
Overwhelmed by hunger, poverty and poor hygiene, they depend mainly on food, medical and logistical aid provided by international organizations.
The WFP’s decision will have a strong impact on camps in northwestern Syria, such as Maram in Atmé, where residents are lining up in front of a truck to receive the last food rations for 2023.
“Cutting aid will lead to the death of people who were living on it because they don’t have money to feed themselves,” said Ahmed Adla, 40, a father of four who has been displaced for 11 years.
“I hope they will come and see how we spend the winter. We can’t even keep our children warm. We are being made fun of,” said Khaled al-Masri, 45 years old and displaced for 13 years with 11 members of his family.
The war in Syria, triggered by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, has left more than half a million dead and millions displaced.