Eastern Qalamoun region near the capital is due to receive a batch of Syrian refugees coming from the Arsal refugee camp in Lebanon in the coming days. This is in line with the terms of the agreement recently signed between Saraya Ahl al-Sham and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
The agreement reached between the two parties in Arsal on July 23, included the departure of members of Saraya Ahl al-Sham with their families and those who wish to accompany them from the Syrian refugees in Arsal to the city of Rahiba.
In this regard, Hazem Abu al-Khair, an activist in the humanitarian field in the eastern region of Qalamoun, said that several civilian and military activities are taking place to equip suitable housing in Rahiba to host hundreds of Syrian families coming from Lebanese territory to the region. The number of fighters and refugees coming is expected to reach about 3600 refugees.
He added that most of the civil society organizations and charitable and medical institutions operating in the city of Rahaiba have pledged to provide all the services to the displaced.
According to the Abu al-Khair, new committees were formed in neighboring Gerod for reception and services and statistics, in order to secure all the necessary needs to refugees from Arsal.
He noted that Ahrar al-Sham pledged to pay rents of fifty residential homes allocated for the shelter of refugee families for two months, amid calls from expatriate families to open their closed houses or allow them to be rented to accommodate new arrivals.
On the other hand, the eastern cities and towns of Qalamoon received over the past years thousands of displaced people from the towns of Eastern Ghouta and Homs countryside, and they were secured in the empty houses available in the area especially the homes of expatriates who did not hesitate to open their homes to receive the displaced.
Abu al-Khair believes that with the arrival of this new group of displaced persons from the Arsal camps, work is under way to establish a residential camp east of Rahiba, and technical and health maintenance to accommodate the numbers of displaced from outside the region.
In a related context, people of the region demand the intervention of the UN and humanitarian organizations to do their duty to help them cope with the large number of displaced people, especially in light of the severe shortage of living and health services in the region as a result of the siege and poor economic conditions.
In turn, Omar Sheikh, the spokesman of Saraya Ahl al-Sham told Ammar Johmani, they chose to go eastern Qalamoon instead of the province, Idlib because it is the most appropriate option.
"We want to stay away from the internal fighting between faxtion that is taking place in different parts of the Syrian north," he said.
He explained, “we are coordinated with our brothers in Rahiba and they are doing everything they can to receive the displaced from the people of the Western Qalamoon despite their siege."
He also noted that they are aware of the magnitude of the suffering experienced by the town in light of the severe shortage experienced by the region at all levels.
Residents of the eastern Qalamoon region (Rahiba, Jerod, Nasiriyah and Atna) whose number reach about 280,000 civilians, about one-third of them displaced, suffer from a siege that has been ongoing since mid-2013. Small amounts of food, fuel and vegetables enter the area, barely covering the needs of half of the population.
