OVERVIEW
Some 525,000 individuals and 87,000 vehicles have crossed the ‘contact line’ through the five operational checkpoints between 1 and 21 July 2016. People keep crossing despite insecurity and hardship to visit relatives, access markets, cash, basic services and receive their social benefits and pensions.
Frequent shelling, shooting and mine contamination in the vicinity of settlements and at crossing points are majoror challenges for civilians. An additional concern are episodes of abuse of power by officials at checkpoints as reported by protection monitoring partners.
High temperatures exacerbated the humanitarian situation at the five operating checkpoints in July. People had to spend hours in the heat with limited or no access to shelter, particularly in Marinka. Humanitarian agencies are addressing urgent needs in sanitation, shelter, drinking water and medical assistance on the GCA side. Benches and construction materials for sheds were delivered to all checkpoints and the State Emergency Service started to install them. Partners availed bottled water at checkpoints in Marinka and Pyshevyk to bridge the gap until water tanks can be installed later this month. Provision of medical assistance at checkpoints remains a major concern due to the lack of partners.