Violent conflicts, occupation and plunder have hit the Shehba Region, which has 75 affiliated villages, since the beginning of the Syrian civil war. The region is constantly under artillery fire and threatened with invasion.

The Shehba Region, where the Afrin people migrated after the Turkish occupation of their land in 2018, is under an embargo by the Syrian government and attacks by the Turkish army and its mercenaries. As the winter began, the embargo was further aggravated and the supply of convenience goods is not allowed now. Public services and health care have stopped due to the lack of fuel, mainly affecting small children, the sick and the elderly.

FUEL TRUCKS NOT ALLOWED FOR TWO MONTHS

According to the annual plan of the Autonomous Administration of North-East Syria (AANES), 200 fuel trucks were supposed to reach the Shehba Region. Under normal circumstances, 15 trucks were allowed into the region, which needed 60 trucks every two weeks, but the 4th Armoured Division, an elite formation of the Syrian Army, has completely blocked the passage of fuel trucks for the last two months.

15 THOUSAND STUDENTS DEPRIVED OF EDUCATION

The Shehba Region has 200,000 residents, including those who migrated from the occupied Afrin. The region is currently facing a heating problem due to the winter season, electricity cuts and fuel shortages. Education in schools has been suspended. 15,000 students cannot receive education because 27 schools have suspended education.

NO CYLINDER

The number of cylinders supposed to be supplied to the region has been reduced from 28 thousand to 10 thousand. The price of a cylinder is 120 thousand Syrian liras.

HEALTH CONDITIONS WORSEN

After the checkpoints of the Syrian government imposed heavy taxes on vehicles carrying medicine to the region, the transfer of milk supply for children has been halted, and the medicines provided by health centres and pharmacies has fallen short. Previously, 5 ambulances served citizens at Avrin Hospital, where approximately 600 citizens were treated per day. Hospital services have also come to a standstill today.

LIFE IN CAMPS EVEN MORE SEVERE

The districts of Til Rifet, Ehres, Ehdas and Fafîn in the region, which remains under an embargo, as well as the Afrin, Shehba, Veger, Serdem and Berxwedan camps are also facing major difficulties.

Speaking to ANF, Afrin Canton Council Co-Chair Zelux Bekir said that there have been daily attacks by heavy weapons and drones against the forcibly displaced people in Shehba for the past four years. “Civilian people are being targeted, massacres are being committed. Attacks hit children, women and the elderly without distinction. The resistance is still continuing here,” she said.

TURKISH STATE ON ONE HAND AND SYRIAN GOVERNMENT ON THE OTHER

Bekir pointed out that Turkish attacks have escalated simultaneously with the embargo imposed by the Syrian government: “Winter has come, living conditions have worsened and the embargo has gradually intensified. On the one hand, the Turkish state and its mercenaries are continuing to attack. On the other hand, the Syrian government is aggravating the embargo. They want to break the will of the people through hunger, forced displacement and disease. In the meantime, Russia is a guarantor state in the region, but it approves these practices so that the region should remain under the control of the Syrian government. As a result, they cooperate to break the will of the Kurdish people.”

EMBARGO AFFECTS EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE

Bekir revealed that numerous elderly and sick people lost their lives as a result of the embargo last year: “The situation of our people living in tents in the camps is obvious to see. On the other hand, those living in districts are mostly staying in semi-demolished houses.

An embargo against a people resisting in a region under difficult conditions is a disaster. Although there is a very short distance between Aleppo and Shehba, the Syrian government has 7 checkpoints. The transfer of fuel, cylinder flour and medicine into the region through these 7 checkpoints is denied. We are facing a serious humanitarian crisis. If the embargo continues like this, the lives of children, the elderly and patients will remain under threat.”

CHECKPOINTS MUST BE REMOVED

Bekir insisted that pressure should be put on the Syrian government to lift the embargo and remove the 7 checkpoints between Aleppo and Shehba. “These 7 checkpoints overtax even basic supplies. The people of the region are fighting a struggle against the Turkish attacks and the Syrian embargo. Our people are aware of the hostile policies against the Kurdish people and the Autonomous Administration project. Our goal is to return to Afrin, and we will fight no matter the cost.”