People who were displaced from Kobanê by ISIS gangs and took refuge in Suruç are still having problems. Those staying in the state-run AFAD camp say drug use and gambling is being encouraged in the camp, while people wanting to return to Kobanê are encountering various obstacles.

It is claimed that the real aim of setting up the AFAD camp was to establish an alternative to the tent cities set up by the Suruç municipality, where Kurdish children receive education in the mother tongue. While originally Arabs were not accepted in the camp, when people from Kobanê showed reluctance to go there, many Arabs were brought to the camp. Bozan Hemo said they are being held prisoner in the camp and are not being allowed to return home.

"They’ve filled the camp with Arabs”

Hemo said 470 families at the camp had applied to be allowed to return to  Kobanê, but that their applications had been turned down for various reasons. Hemo said: "At the beginning they said they would not take Arabs into the camp. They said the food was good and that they would give us money. Then we saw they had brought Arabs in, the same Arabs who pillaged our land and our houses.”

'Drugs are being sold in the camp'

Hemo claimed drugs were being sold in the camp: "At first there were only people from Kobanê here. Then they brought in Arabs from Jarablus, Manbij, Sirrin and Aleppo. These Arabs are selling drugs and gambling. We are worried about our children and we complained to the camp authorities. They are encouraging this, as these Arabs are the Arabs who supported the gangs. What they couldn’t do there they want to do here.”