ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A child fleeing from Mosul died of the cold at the Rajm Slebi checkpoint in northeastern Syria, close to the Iraqi border, local media has reported.
Muna Mohammed Hatab, said to be one-year old from the Iraqi city of Mosul, died in the freezing cold weather at the checkpoint, Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported on Friday.
This is the second time a child has died at the checkpoint since October 30, ANHA added.
The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, told Rudaw English they are aware of the media reports but cannot confirm the fatalities.
“We did not have any direct access to the checkpoint until earlier this week on Monday. And we have been able to get back there another time. So we have been there ourselves twice... so we have not been able to confirm any fatalities as such yet,” Scott Craig, the UNHCR spokesperson in Syria, said in a phone interview.
Kurdish authorities stopped Iraqi refugees and the internally displaced Syrians (IDPs) from crossing the checkpoint to reach Al Hol camp on suspicion of being members of ISIS, local media Ana Press reported.
The Justice for Life Observatory in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor reported on November 4 that people fleeing fighting in the area getting caught up between Kurdish authorities on one side and ISIS militants on the other side. It said the Syrian IDPs are required to provide a guarantor from Hasakah province in order to cross the checkpoint.
Muna Mohammed Hatab, said to be one-year old from the Iraqi city of Mosul, died in the freezing cold weather at the checkpoint, Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported on Friday.
This is the second time a child has died at the checkpoint since October 30, ANHA added.
The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, told Rudaw English they are aware of the media reports but cannot confirm the fatalities.
“We did not have any direct access to the checkpoint until earlier this week on Monday. And we have been able to get back there another time. So we have been there ourselves twice... so we have not been able to confirm any fatalities as such yet,” Scott Craig, the UNHCR spokesperson in Syria, said in a phone interview.
Kurdish authorities stopped Iraqi refugees and the internally displaced Syrians (IDPs) from crossing the checkpoint to reach Al Hol camp on suspicion of being members of ISIS, local media Ana Press reported.
The Justice for Life Observatory in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor reported on November 4 that people fleeing fighting in the area getting caught up between Kurdish authorities on one side and ISIS militants on the other side. It said the Syrian IDPs are required to provide a guarantor from Hasakah province in order to cross the checkpoint.
Al Hol camp is located in the Hasakah province.
The Observatory said the people are in dire condition with almost no tents, blankets or winter clothes.
Kurdish security forces in northern Syria introduced stricter security measures pertaining to the movement of people into and out of its territory after a bombing in Qamishli in the summer killed at least 50 people.
Craig said that the UN agency is not able to “directly observe” the situation at the checkpoint, but he said they are now working with the Kurdish authorities who control the area to get access and confirm the exact status of the people there.
He said they are aware that some of people there “are in need of medical attention.”
The agency evacuated 115 Iraqis from the checkpoint to the nearby camp of Al Hol on Monday.
“They are mainly women, children and sick people – the vulnerable. These are priority categories right now; but others also have protection and humanitarian assistance needs which we will spare no efforts to meet, conditions permitting,” Alphonse Munyaneza, UNHCR field coordinator in the area, said.
As of Monday, there were 1,200 Iraqi refugees, half of them children, 200 under the age of five, the agency reported. They come from villages in the Baiji district, Mosul, and Salahadin.
Craig said another 400 Iraqis have been able to cross the checkpoint in the last two days.
The UN agency expressed their willingness to provide emergency relief at Rajm Slebi, but warned that it cannot take care of the refugees and the IDPs “at a border checkpoint.”
It urged local authorities at the checkpoint “to conduct the processing as efficiently as possible and with due respect for humanitarian principles.”
At Al Hol camp, the UNHCR is ready to provide emergency assistance for up to 15,000 people, with capacity soon to double and eventually rise to 50,000.
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