War-torn Syria’s water supplies are deteriorating fast, triggering migration and disease and stoking a pollution crisis in neighbouring Lebanon, hydrologists and humanitarian groups have warned.
“Water security continues to deteriorate for many civilians [in Syria]. Evidence shows that control over power and water infrastructure is [being] used as a weapon of warring parties,” said Noosheen Mogadam, a policy adviser with the Norwegian Refugee Council based in Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border.
“Conflict and protection concerns are the primary drivers for the current displacement trends, [but] a lack of access to water is also cited as a major reason amongst both Syrian refugees and internally displaced people within Syria for fleeing their communities,” she said.