AP Photo/Thanasis Stavrakis
The Syrian government is expanding a camp in the community of Hirjilla in the countryside of Damascus for residents fleeing the militant-held part of the Idlib de-escalation zone, the camp’s head Abdurrahman Habib told media on August 8.
Accordiing to Habib, the camp can host 5,000 people, but it has alredy received up to 20,000 people. So, the camp has to be expanded.
“It [the camp] was established in 2014 to support refugees from neighboring regions. We received here people from Deir Ezzor, Daraa and other governorates. In 2015, refugees from Eastern Ghouta lived there, but now they returned home, because the province had been liberated from terrorists,” Habib said adding that the camp is currently empty.
Habib added that Russia has provided a regular assistance to civilians in the camp “through regular deliveries of humanitarian supplies, mattresses, warm blankets and other necessities.”
The aforementioned camp is located on the territory of a former sports complex and includes 724 dwellings to house the displaced people. Every dwellling has a room, a kitchen and sanitary facilities. The camp also has a warehouse with products and hygiene items, as well as a school with equipped school rooms and a medical station with drugs and equipment. People that have a serious illness could be sent to a hospital in Damascus.
