Preparations of a second refugee camp are nearing completion in the Afrin Canton of Rojava, to complement the Newroz camp in the town of Derik. The camp, which is intended to accommodate up to 30,000 people, is being constructed entirely by the Canton administration with the assistance of local people.

After the Newroz refugee camp was set up last year and which has now been recognised by the UNHCR after becoming home to thousands of refugees from Sinjar, the second refugee camp in Rojava (West Kurdistan), Rubari, is due to open in the next few days in Afrin Canton, which is home to a large number of people displaced by the civil war in Syria.

The camp is being constructed by the Work and Social Security Ministry of the Afrin Canton Autonomous Administration near the village of Basilê in the Şêrava sub-district of Afrin.

Camp construction committee member Fevzi Süleyman said they had only received 200 tents from two small aid organisations, despite writing to many of them. Süleyman added that around 300,000 people had come to Afrin from Aleppo,  but that since many of them were originally from Afrin they were staying with relatives.

Not only Kurds displaced

Süleyman added that Afrin had also received displaced people from other parts of Syria, saying: “After the Kurds came, and because of the secure stable situation here people began to come from other cities, such as Homs and Hama. We couldn't leave them to live in the open, so we decided to establish this camp. For the last week we have been working to complete it.”

Tens of thousands more expected

Süleyman said they had begun with 200 tents, adding that as the crisis in Syria was continuing, they expected more displaced people to come to Afrin. He added that for this reason the UNHCR and international aid organisations should assist them. He said they had yet to receive any assistance and called on them to provide support.