Fleeing Syrians fear disease on Turkey border

  • 12 years ago
Displaced Syrians camp near the Turkish border, trying to flee an escalating civil war.

Amateur video, which could not be independently verified by Reuters, showed people in makeshift camps surrounded by squalor.

Many were stranded on the border awaiting processing by the Turkish authorities, already struggling with an influx of refugees.

Amid poor conditions, one man said he feared cholera and malaria.

SOUNDBITE: UNIDENTIFIED DISPLACED SYRIAN, SAYING (Arabic):

"I'm not exaggerating, there are more than 100 cases of diarrhoea here, they need drugs. Some of them have died. But we will not give up. We haven't come here for nothing. We don't want food or water supplies. We want guns and no fly zones to fight against the regime. We can eat dirt if necessary but we just need weapons to fight."

As the conflict escalates, Syria's neighbours face a refugee crisis.

Officials say more than 200,000 have already fled the country.

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