Calls are going out for countries around the world to repatriate citizens amid fears the camp is vulnerable to a Covid-19 outbreak
Forty-seven Australian children remain trapped in the abject al-Hawl camp in north-east Syria, as the region braces for a potential Covid-19 outbreak.
Syria has reported only a handful of cases, and there are none confirmed in the camp housing 68,000 women and children, most of them family of Islamic State fighters, but there has been little Covid-19 testing across the war-torn country.
In neighbouring Turkey, more than 18,000 cases have been confirmed, and the rate of infection is on the steepest upward curve of any country in the world.
Fabrizio Carboni, the regional director for the Near and Middle East for the International Committee of the Red Cross, tells the Guardian al-Hawl is “hell … this place really is hell”, and acutely vulnerable to a Covid-19 outbreak.
“The challenge for us is prevention, to avoid the virus getting into the camp, and to isolate any cases at all costs to stop the spread in the camp. But really, if this epidemic gets into the camp, forget about having medical supplies, it will be impossible to control.”
Kamalle Dabboussy, whose daughter and three grandchildren have been held in the camp for more than a year, says while there are no confirmed cases in north-east Syria “we are hearing reports of some women presenting with pneumonia-like symptoms”.
“However, we note there are no testing kits, so we just don’t know what that means.
“As family members, we are very scared… if Covid-19 hits al-Hawl camp it will be a catastrophe.”
