Amidst the debris..

© Freedom House via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Smoke rises in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts in the northern city of Aleppo as fighting continued through the night, on December 1, 2012.
Though it remains impossible to quantify the risks without more detailed data from the ground,
it is highly likely that civilians have, and will, face direct health consequences as a result of
pollution generated or exacerbated by the conflict, both on a personal and a community level.
Not accounted for in this overview is the environmental footprint created by refugee camps,
that also adds to exhaustion and/or pollution of natural resources such as ground and surface
waters, air quality, ecosystems and has created waste management problems. Some of these
concerns have already been assessed in Lebanon by the UNDP and the Lebanese Ministry
of Environment 157 . Similar situations are most likely presents in other refugee camps in Syria,
Turkey and Jordan. !
46 PAX ! Amidst the debris...