The amount of unpaid bills that Abu Khaled has accumulated with traders in Al-Karama IDP camp in Syria’s Idlib province has soared. In the rebel enclave under Turkish tutelage, prices have almost doubled since the start of the war in Ukraine: not only those of wheat and sunflower oil, but also those of all consumer products, affected by the rise fuel prices. With six dependent children, and without any income, Abou Khaled already accumulates nearly 9,000 Turkish liras (550 euros) in debt. ” It’s a disaster. I will never be able to repay”he said on the phone.
The local association which distributes food baskets from the World Food Program (WFP) withdrew Abou Khaled from the list of its beneficiaries three months ago, without any explanation, like 140 other families in the section of the camp where he lives. There are no jobs to be filled for miles around. And, as with the 2.8 million displaced living in overcrowded camps in northwestern Syria, hope of ever returning home – to Hama in central Syria – has faded after 11 years of war.
In the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the economic crisis in Syria has worsened, and the response capacities of humanitarian organizations are being tested. The impasse in which the Syrian crisis finds itself, the Covid-19 pandemic and the succession of humanitarian emergencies around the world had already eroded the support of foreign donors. Part of the international subsidies is now redirected to Ukraine. “Syria is now off the radar of donors, warns Hisham Dirani, director of the Syrian NGO Banafsaj. Food aid is drying up as there are 4.1 million food insecure people in northwestern Syria, and there is almost no money left for education and health. »
Smaller baskets
The WFP – which provides food aid to 1.35 million people in northwestern Syria, and 5.5 million in total in Syria – has announced that it will have to reduce the size of its baskets from May. “Rising global food prices have driven the cost of WFP food aid up by 51% since 2019, and this amount will increase as the impact of the war in Ukraine continues”explains Abeer Etefa, the WFP spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa, who adds that “needs now significantly exceed available funding”.
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