Syrian refugees face new misery as winter storms descend

ZAHLE, Lebanon — As the driving rain turned to icy sleet and a blustering wind rocked their flimsy tent, Umm Khalil and her four children shivered, from fear as much as the cold. A major storm was descending on Lebanon, and along with hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees bracing for the onslaught, she worried the family would lose the few possessions they had left.

Or perhaps worse. Two Syrian babies died of exposure in Lebanon’s last storm, in November. Such is the ferocity of this one, which is expected to bring snow and gale force winds to the areas where most of the refugees live, that aid agencies as well as refugees worry that people’s lives could be at risk.

“I’m afraid the tent will collapse on top of us. I am afraid of how cold it will get,” Umm Khalil said Tuesday. “Most of all I’m afraid for my children.”

Winter storms are sweeping many parts of the world this week, includingthe United States. But there may be few people who will suffer more than the millions displaced by the war in Syria, confronting this fourth winter without adequate shelter from the biting cold weather descending on the region.

Victims of a humanitarian catastrophe that could dwarf all previous refu­gee disasters since World War II, the Syrians have overwhelmed the limited capacity of the international community to alleviate the suffering.

According to the United Nations, a total of 10.8 million Syrians have fled the war in the past three years. An estimated 3.2 million of them have taken refuge in neighboring countries, and 7.6 million have been displaced within Syria.  Read More  Washingtonpost