ALEPPO, Syria — Abu Ahmed, 40, works long hours transferring goods from trucks at the Bab al-Salameh border crossing between Turkey and Syria to provide for his wife and children. Four months ago, Abu Ahmed lived in the Halak neighborhood in the city of Aleppo, but then government helicopters barrel bombed the house he used for shelter. He fled with his surviving family members to Bab al-Salameh, in the northern Aleppo countryside.

Abu Ahmed rubbed dust from his eyes while standing in front of his tent, which swayed in the wind. He lamented, “This is the third time I have moved, and I do not think it is going to be the last. I feel that I am destined to be in misery all my life. No electricity, no food, no life worthy of a human being.” He also told Al-Monitor, “On a monthly basis, my children get diarrhea and stomach illnesses. And I don’t have a choice but to have my little boy work in a restaurant to be able to get a meal at the end of the day. Life has become very difficult here.”

Charities used to provide two meals a day to every person in the camp, in addition to a food basket every 15 days. The large influx of displaced persons, however, forced the camp's management to reduce food rations and distribute only one meal and one loaf of bread per day.

The camp is designed to accommodate 5,000 people, but the latest official statistics, of which Al-Monitor obtained a copy, indicate that at the beginning of September some 16,850 people, most of them children, lived in the camp.