REPORT: Displaced Iraqis struggle in freezing weather conditions

A mid-winter icy spell and frequent snowstorms have gripped Iraq's northern Kurdish region for days, covering a number of villages in snow, with temperatures dipping to 10 degrees Celsius in some areas.

Near the snow-capped mountains in Iraq's Kurdistan region, displaced families at the Dawoodiya camp north of the Kurdish city of Dohuk are struggling with power outages and a lack of heating fuel to keep them warm.

The camp, which hosts over 700 displaced families originally from the Nineveh province, Tal-Afar and Sinjar, consists of 900 makeshift shelters, all of which were covered in thick blankets of snow.

The roads leading to the camp were also covered with recent snowfall, as residents shoveled snow to clear the pathways outside their homes.

Omar Maho Ahmed, a Yazidi teacher who fled Sinjar after it fell to Islamic State in late 2014, teaches at the camp's intermediate school.
 
Ahmed said the camp has less than six hours of electricity each day and there is a severe shortage of fuel, making living conditions very difficult.

“Dawoodiya Camp was severely hit by the cold wave that hit the Kurdistan Region. The camp lacks services including electricity and heating oil. We are now in winter and amidst of a snow storm, we call on organizations and parties concerned to provide heating oil and services to the people in the camp,” said Ahmed.

Many in the camp have little means and access to fuel and have to resort to burning any scrap they can find to stay warm.

During the day, children enjoy playing with the soft white snow creating models with their friends from the camp.

But residents warn that children are in desperate need of winter clothes and blankets to stay warm.
 Many of the young residents are easily susceptible to illnesses in the cold and getting them to clinics in nearby Dohuk has proved difficult due to the snow-blocked roads.


REUTERS

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