Hassakeh, Syria - July 7, 2019 (UNifeed - No access Chinese mainland/Orient TV/Syria Alshaab TV/Zanoubia TV/Alhurra TV/ANN TV/Al Jazeera/Al-Arabiya TV/Not for sale)
1. Al-Hol Camp
2. People at camp
3. Various of people at camp gathering
4. Staff handing over medicine to woman
5. Various of children receiving vaccinations
6. UNICEF staff talking to children at Al-Hol Camp
7. Various of children at Al-Hol Camp
8. Boy
9. Child receiving malnutrition screening

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned tens of thousands of children in Al-Hol Camp and several parts of Syria are in limbo amid dire humanitarian needs. The Agency called for improved humanitarian access and protection of children including re-integration into local communities and safe return to home countries.

At least 70,000 people live in Al-Hol Camp, northeast of Syria. UNICEF estimated that more than 90 percent of them are children and women. Nearly 20,000 of the children are Syrian. The rest, 29,000, come from 62 different countries, including 9,000 from Iraq. Most are under the age of 12. These children are highly vulnerable, they are the survivors of heavy fighting and have witnessed unimaginable atrocities.

UNICEF said children in Al-Hol Camp are facing a dire humanitarian situation and for many this is further compounded by recent experiences of having been abused or forced to fight and carry out acts of extreme violence. These children make up only a fraction of a much larger group of children allegedly associated with armed conflict and stranded in camps, detention centres and orphanages across Syria and especially in the northeast. Some, as young as 12, are reportedly being detained.

UNICEF said they continue to be at huge risk while violence heavily escalates. In the northwest province of Idlib, nearly 1 million children have been trapped for months on end amid heavy fighting, adding that their fate and future also hang in the balance.

The children in Al-Hol Camp now require care and protection, and also rely on urgent lifesaving assistance, especially as summer temperatures soar.

Despite violence winding down in the area and amid a decrease in the influx of people arriving at Al-Hol, humanitarian needs remain critical including access to safe water and health services.

UNICEF reminded all concerned that these are children, not perpetrators, and stressed that they have the right to be safeguarded, including through legal documentation and family reunification.

UNICEF said it was supporting learning spaces at the camp serving 3,000 students, in addition to child-friendly spaces and mobile child protection teams; reaching nearly 12,000 children with recreational activities, psychosocial support, case management, and special care for separated and unaccompanied children.