Date: Feb 2, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Syrian civilians fleeing fighting need transit site, aid GENEVA: The U.N. refugee agency said Friday that it had asked the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to designate a transit site en route to a camp where civilians fleeing fighting in the harsh winter can get life-saving aid after 29 children died. SDF forces, led by the Kurdish YPG militia, are fighting Daesh (ISIS) in the Hajin enclave of Deir al-Zor in the northeast. They are in “de facto” control of the transit zone, but have not replied to the request made two weeks ago, it said. The UNHCR said families fleeing the Hajin enclave describe a harrowing journey, “wading through mine fields and open fighting.” Once reaching the SDF positions, “they describe being herded into open trucks and having to endure another arduous journey in winter weather northward to Al-Hol camp.” a UNHCR statement said. Civilians, mainly women and children, are fleeing toward Al-Hol camp, whose population has tripled in two months to 33,000. “The humanitarian situation in this part of Syria is critical right now. That’s why we are appealing for the safety of civilians, their ability to move out of the conflict zone, to be aided and provided with basic shelter and life-saving assistance,” Andrej Mahecic, spokesman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters in Geneva. At least 29 children and babies are reported to have died in the camp in northeastern Syria over the past eight weeks, mainly due to hypothermia and malnourishment, the World Health Organization said Thursday. WHO-supported teams are working around the clock in the camp to screen new arrivals, support vaccination and refer severely malnourished children to a hospital in Hassakeh. “Humanitarian actors have collectively requested forces in control of the area designate a transit site en route for Al-Hol where life-saving assistance can be provided,” Mahecic said. SDF forces have also confiscated identity documents and restricted movement of displaced people in camps in Hassakeh province, he said, calling for freedom of movement.