For the displaced people from Afrin, life in Shehba is even more difficult in winter than usual. Many people are sick and there is too little medicine. The Kurdish Red Crescent (Heyva Sor a Kurd) maintains seven health centres in the region. They were set up when hundreds of thousands of people had to flee from Afrin to the neighbouring canton after the occupation by Turkey in spring 2018.

Heyva Sor health centres are located in the districts of Ehdas, Ehirs and Tel Rifat, in the villages of Ziyara and Burc Qas, and in the tent cities of Serdem and Berxwedan. In total, an average of 700 sick people are treated per day. The 60 employees are on duty around the clock. First aid courses are also offered.

In the Kurdish Red Crescent there are also committees with various tasks. One committee is responsible for the distribution of baby milk, another for psychological support. Seminars are also held on this topic. For the war-traumatised people from Afrin there is a great need for this.

According to Mecdolîn Zeyno of the Kurdish Red Crescent in Ehdas, there has been an increase in cases of illness compared to the previous year. In winter, bronchitis and infectious diseases are particularly common.

"Asthma is also spreading more and more. Heyva Sor receives no support from any organisation. We are therefore once again calling on the world community to fulfil its responsibility towards the people of Afrin," says Zeyno of Heyva Sor.

Nazilê Dado, one of the patients, says: "We have been driven from our homes and had to flee with our children. Of course there are more diseases now. We will only get better when we can return to Afrin."

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