Following the invasion attacks by the Turkish state, over 170.000 civilians who migrated from Afrin to Shehba say none of the international aid organizations support them and they have all forgotten about them.
The people of Afrin who displayed a great resistance against attacks launched on January 20 by the invading Turkish army and the gangs they gathered from groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda and Al Nusra for two months, after which they migrated to the Shehba region on the decision by the canton administrations to avoid new massacres.
The people continue their resistance under harsh conditions in the Shehba region since March 18 and they have not received any support from any international aid organizations. There are 176.000 people from Afrin settled in 50 villages in Shehba’s Fafinê, Tal Rifat, Ehres and Kefernayê subdistricts and 10 villages in Afrin’s Sherawa district.
Following the vile attacks by the Turkish army and their gangs, the people of Afrin had to leave their homes with the clothes on their backs, and continue their resistance with the support of the Kurdish people and their friends.
With support from Kurds in Northern Syria and Europe, and the Kurdish people and their allies in general, two camps have been set up to date in the Shehba region with limited means.
There are some 1.000 families in the Berxwedan camp, and families have started to settle in the Serdem Camp which has just been completed. But the people from Afrin live mostly in villages, courtyards and derelict buildings.
The people continue their resistance in the Berxwedan Camp and they say that they haven’t received any support from any international aid organization, and that they live on only what the Kurdish people have been sending them under difficult and limited circumstances. The people of Afrin say their conditions are rough but they will resist for their lands despite all, and never accept the invasion.
70 year old Fatme Ebdulah had to migrate from the Beradê village of Afrin’s Sherawa district, and said they had to leave their homes under a cloud of bombs and were only able to take the clothes on their backs. Fatme Ebdulah’s husband Hesen Ebûd said they woke up one night to the sound of bombs: “Our homes, our belongings, everything has been looted. We live in camps here. We are grateful for the friends trying to see to our every need, but it is too hot, summer is coming, there are things that are bigger than them. To this day, nobody except for the friends has helped us.”
A woman named Zeynep Hesen said her family first stayed among the ruins of a building in Ehres, and they moved to the camp later on, then added that their needs are increasing with the onset of summer and the heat: “You see, there are children everywhere. They are starting to get sick, partly due to the heat. They can’t bathe properly. When the weather gets a bit hotter, many infections will turn up too.”
Mihemed Cemil said they also lack medicine and cleaning supplies and that no international aid organization has helped them, and they have been forgotten. An old woman named Fidan said her family have been out of their home for a month, and she hasn’t had an opportunity to wash herself, adding that they have no clothes and there is a lack of water. Another citizen named Ehmed Heyder said they couldn’t bathe for days.
