Outbreak of Chicken Pox, Lice and Scabies in Assyrian Refugee Camp in Arbel
Ankawa Mall, an uncompleted building in Ankawa, Iraq, now housing nearly 1,800 Assyrian refugees.
24/3/15
(AINA) — Eight months after ISIS drove nearly 200,000 Assyrians from their villages in the Nineveh Plains north of Mosul, Assyrians are now battling disease in the refugee camps they are living in. Refugees are living in uncompleted buildings, with no walls, windows or dividers.
One location, called the Ankawa Mall, is a 7 story building which was never completed. It has open floors on all levels. There are 420 Assyrian families living there, about 1,800 people, mostly from Baghdede (Qaraqosh), Tel Afar and Bertella. According to Fr. Immanuel Callo, there is now an outbreak of chicken pox, lice and scabies in this building.
There a severe water shortage. Six tankers of water, each bringing at least 12,000 liters of water, are purchased daily. $200 per day is spent on the generator for the building.
There is also a critical shortage of bathrooms, with most floors having only 2 or 3.
According to officials from the Syriac Catholic Church, who are managing the building, very little help is arriving. The central government initially paid one million dinars ($1000) per family, but no additional help has been received since. The Kurdish regional government made a one time donation of clothes and toys.
© Assyrian International News Agency.
