By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - Dozens of people have been killed this year in a refugee camp housing families of Daesh/ISIS terrorists in northern Syria, a senior UN official said Tuesday.
Martin Griffiths, under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council that 69 people have been murdered at the al-Hol camp since January, while 12 attempted murders have also taken place.
"Killings of and threats to women and girls in the camp increased in June and July, contributing further to a climate of fear. And the dire needs in the camp, and the extreme vulnerability and aid dependence of residents in the camp increases the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse," he said.
Griffiths said "humanitarian workers, including protection volunteers and camp management staff" continue to "face regular threats."
About 59,000 people remain at the camp with one in five being younger than 5, according to UN figures. The US has urged countries to repatriate their nationals who remain at the camp, but little momentum has occurred.
"We must not abandon them to the violence and the hopelessness of al-Hol," Griffiths said of the thousands who remain.