ReliefWeb

• 85,000 Estimated number of Syrians at the berm in October 2016

• 77,500 Estimated number of Syrians at Rukban

• 7,500 Estimated number of Syrians at Hadalat

• 7,116 Estimated number of shelters in Rukban

• 1,428 Estimated number of shelters in Hadalat

• 79% of the population are women and children

Situation Overview

• The regular delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to tens of thousands of Syrians on the Jordan-Syria border resumed on 22 November 2016, with prioritization at the larger of the two sites at Rukban.

• The assistance is being channeled through a new distribution point north-west of Rukban.

• Assistance to the population at the berm was suspended on 21 June 2016 after an attack near Rukban. The last distribution was a one-off, one-month supply of food rations, including bread, along with blankets, hygiene kits, jerry cans and plastic sheets between 2-4 August 2016 at Rukban and Hadalat. Water continued to be supplied daily.

Background

• The number of Syrians present at the berm has fluctuated over the last year due to conflict and forced displacement inside Syria.

• The area is a remote area of flat desert ground between two sand mounds, or “berms”, near to the tri-border area of Iraq, Jordan and Syria, where temperatures can dip dangerously low in the winter months.

• Some of the most vulnerable cases include pregnant women, serious medical cases and unaccompanied or separated children enduring deteriorating humanitarian conditions. Health care is limited to what can be provided by a dozen Syrian health care professionals, including midwives, nurses, pharmacists, and the irregular presence of a doctor. Very few essential medicines are available.