Syrian Refugees Burn Plastic, Old Clothes to Stay Warm in Idlib

Syrian refugee children collecting nylon and plastic bags in northwestern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Syrian refugee children collecting nylon and plastic bags in northwestern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Syrian Refugees Burn Plastic, Old Clothes to Stay Warm in Idlib

Syrian refugee children collecting nylon and plastic bags in northwestern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Syrian refugee children collecting nylon and plastic bags in northwestern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Strained living and economic conditions have prompted IDPs in northern Syria refugee camps to resort to unconventional and possibly hazardous heating methods that are cheaper and more accessible than gas, wood and olive mill pomace.

Struggling to keep warm during harsh winter weather, refugees are burning plastic, old clothes, sponge blocks and nylon bags.

Touring a number of refugee camps in the northwestern province of Idlib, Asharq Al-Awsat met with Abu Mohammed, a 56-year-old father of eight, who blames both displacement and Syria’s crippling economic crisis for his daily struggle to provide heat for his children.

“Difficult economic conditions have prevented us from using fuel and firewood, which are being sold at steep prices, and forced us to look for alternatives like burning used plastic, nylon bags and cardboard to stay warm,” he said.

According to the refugee ailed by poverty and cold, a ton of firewood is being sold at as much as $100.

Every morning, Abu Mohammed tasks three of his children to spend the day scouring for plastic waste and bags tossed around Haranabush town, where the camp they’re staying at is located.

Meanwhile, he spends the day in their family’s shabby tent to look after his younger kids and wife, who is suffering episodes of severe cough and respiratory infections as a result of inhaling toxic gases emitted from the burnt plastic and nylon.

Hassan Qaddour, a local physician, confirmed that dozens of emergency cases linked to inhaling toxic gases are being reported daily.

“On a daily basis, we receive dozens of children and elderly people with severe shortness of breath and lung infections,” said Qaddour, adding that they are being treated by oxygen therapy.

Poor ventilation of refugee tents coupled with fumes from burning plastic and nylon has contributed to the spike in lung infections among displaced Syrians in the north.

Qaddour warned that refugees suffering from poor immunity face a greater risk of contracting diseases.

He also noted that the risk is amplified when factoring in the coronavirus, which has recently spread among refugee camps.



‘Our Children Are Dying Slowly’ Says Father Searching for Food in Gaza 

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip May 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip May 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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‘Our Children Are Dying Slowly’ Says Father Searching for Food in Gaza 

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip May 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip May 21, 2025. (Reuters)

Father of four Mahmoud al-Haw and other Palestinians crowd around a soup kitchen in war-ravaged Gaza, surging forward and frantically waving pots.

Small children, squashed at the front, are in tears. One of them holds up a plastic basin hoping for some ladles of soup. Haw pushes forward in the scrum until he receives his share.

Haw does this every day because he fears his children are starving. He sets out through the ruins of Jabalia in northern Gaza in search of food, waiting in panicked crowds for up to six hours to get barely enough to feed his family.

Some days he gets lucky and can find lentil soup. Other days he returns empty-handed.

"I have a sick daughter. I can't provide her with anything. There is no bread, there is nothing," said Haw, 39.

"I'm here since eight in the morning, just to get one plate for six people while it is not enough for one person."

Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March, prompting international experts to warn of looming famine in the besieged enclave that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians.

Some trucks were allowed to enter Gaza on Monday, after Israel agreed to allow limited humanitarian deliveries to resume following mounting international pressure. But by Tuesday night, the United Nations said no aid had been distributed.

And as well as aid shortages, fighting in Gaza has intensified. Last week the Israeli military announced the start of a major new operation against the Hamas group. Medics in the territory say Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in the past eight days.

Israel's stepped-up campaign has strained its relations with much of the world. European countries including France, Germany and Britain have said the situation in Gaza is intolerable, and even the support of its closest ally, the United States, now appears to be wavering.

Israel denies that Gaza is facing a hunger crisis. It has said its blockade is aimed in part at preventing Hamas from diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied doing so and accuses Israel of using starvation as a military tactic.

DAILY SEARCH FOR FOOD

Gazans like Haw, living in the epicenter of the war that is now in its 20th month, have no voice in the debate.

Haw's world consists of walking to food kitchens each day, through the destruction wrought by Israeli bombardments in the war that was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 53,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Even before the war - fought intensively around the family home in Jabalia, just north of Gaza City - Haw's family had its struggles. His niece, who lives with them, uses a wheelchair. His daughter has heart disease and bronchial asthma, he says.

Haw climbs the stairs to his one-room apartment, where his children wait, sitting on a mattress. There is no surprise about what he has brought home - soup again.

He puts the soup in small tin bowls and hands them to his four children and his brother's two children.

The children, quiet, eat slowly and carefully.

"Thank God, as you can see, this is breakfast, lunch and dinner, thank God," he said. The day before, he said, his family had had nothing to eat.

"I wish everyone would stand by us. Our children are dying slowly," said Haw.