Starving Syrian mum sets self, kids on fire in refugee camp near Jordan

An internally displaced Syrian mother has attempted to torch herself and her children to death in a refugee camp in southern Syria after she failed to find food for her family for three straight days.

Civil defense spokesman Khaled al-Ali said Sundus Fathallah, 28, set herself and her three children on fire inside a tent at the desolate Rukban refugee camp near Syria's border with Jordan over the weekend as she helplessly watched her children starving.

Other refugees in the camp put out the fire, which damaged the tent, and evacuated the woman and her children to hospital, the spokesman added.

The woman and her infant were seriously hurt while the two other children suffered minor injuries, Ali pointed out.

Last October, the Britain-based so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said people in Rukban camp have been without access to food and humanitarian materials for several months.

The Observatory highlighted that the tough situation is coupled with a closed border by Jordan.

Jordan closed its border with Syria following an attack on its soldiers by Daesh Takfiri terrorists back in 2016. Earlier this week, however, Amman re-opened the Nasib border crossing with Syria for the first time in three years, as the crisis in Syria is gradually winding down thanks to the Syrian army’s decisive gains against terrorists.

The United Nations says about 45,000 people, mostly women and children, are trapped inside Rukban refugee camp.

This is while Geneva-based Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has put the number of refugees living there closer to 60,000.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported early October 2018 that two children had died due to lack of medical care. Four-month-old Huda Raslan died from malnutrition and a lack of medical access while Munaf al-Mahmoud, a one-year-old baby, died due to the lack of adequate medical care as well.

“Once again, UNICEF appeals to all parties to the conflict in Syria and those who have influence over them, to allow and facilitate access to basic services including health for children and families. This is the very minimum for human dignity,” Geert Cappelaere, the UNICEF Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.

The area where Rukban camp is located is controlled by the former US-backed Shuhada al-Qaryatayn militant group. The extremists were supposed to evacuate to Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib in accordance with a Russian-backed deal, but refused to do so.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.

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