Fifteen displaced Syrian children – 13 of them aged under one – have died in recent weeks due to cold weather and inadequate medical care, the UN says.
Eight deaths have been reported at the Rukban camp on Jordanian border, where some 45,000 people are stranded.
The other children died while fleeing fighting between US-backed forces and Islamic State militants in the eastern Hajin area of Deir al-Zour province.
Bad weather has also wreaked havoc in Syrian refugee communities in Lebanon.
Several days of strong winds, heavy rain and snow last week caused flooding and damage at more than 360 makeshift sites hosting 11,300 refugees.
An eight-year-old refugee girl was swept away by a flood in the northern town of Minieh, while at least 600 refugees had to be relocated in the Bekaa valley.
The UN children's agency, Unicef, said the extreme cold and lack of medical care for mothers before and during birth, as well as for new infants, had exacerbated the already dire conditions at Rukban camp, where 80% of the population are women and children.
Families seeking safety amid the heavy violence in Hajin had meanwhile faced difficulties leaving the conflict zone and had been left waiting in the cold for days without shelter or basic supplies, it added.
“The lives of babies continue to be cut short by health conditions that are preventable or…
