UNICEF aid resumes to displaced Syrians near Jordan border

GENEVA – UNICEF has sent hygiene kits and clothing to children among 85,000 displaced Syrians who are facing freezing conditions at a camp on the border with Jordan, as U.N. aid deliveries resume.

Spokesman Christophe Boulierac said Friday that the U.N. children’s agency has delivered over 250 “winterization kits” including sweaters, trousers, jackets, socks and boots for children under 12 months old since a U.N. announcement Tuesday that deliveries were resuming.

Aside from water deliveries, U.N. aid to the makeshift Rukban camp between two parallel earthen barriers, or berms, all but stopped after Jordan sealed the border following a June car bomb attack that killed seven Jordanian border guard members.

UNICEF says children make up over half of the population in the camp, and 20 per cent are under 5 years old.