Following the offensive launched in October 2016 to liberate Mosul, Iraq, thousands of people crossed the border into Syria, seeking shelter in the Al Hol refugee camp built in the north of the country. 90,000 people according to UNHCR estimates.
An emergency within an emergency, which has been going on for several months, and which we have been facing in cooperation with the Kurdish Red Crescent (KRC), with whom we have been working for some time now in north-eastern Syria.
Guaranteeing fleeing displaced persons immediate medical assistance: this is the aim of the programme launched at the end of 2016, thanks to the support of UNHCR, and still ongoing, with the contribution of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Action Humanitaire France).
We are intervening on a daily basis at the Iraq-Syria border, at the Rajm Slebi checkpoint, with an ambulance providing assistance to incoming Iraqi families fleeing Mosul and displaced Syrian people from the Deir er Zor area, transporting them to nearby hospitals or to the Al Hol camp, 30 kilometres away.
It is a situation of utmost emergency at the border, where the lack of facilities makes it incredibly difficult to intervene: that is why the work of the KRC staff with whom we collaborate is particularly strenuous but absolutely necessary.
At the same time, we are strengthening the health and first aid services already existing in the area, with a special focus on women, trauma victims and people with disabilities. Together with the KRC, we have selected and trained the medical and health personnel who will work both at the border and at the primary health centre in Al Hol camp. A total of 63 people, including doctors, paediatricians, gynaecologists, midwives, paramedics, psycho-social workers, ambulance drivers. Thanks to their support, we can guarantee health care and logistical support to the mobile first aid teams already operating along the border. Within the Al Hol camp, daily medical assistance is also guaranteed, 24 hours a day, for a total of more than 400 visits per day; psycho-social support with special attention to women, distribution of medicines for patients in need, ambulance transport to the nearby hospital in Hassakeh when necessary.
There are also special services for people with disabilities and those who have suffered trauma, thanks to the specific training of the staff involved, who are also ready to intervene in cases of gender-based violence.
