16,000 Washo Kani Camp IDPs are awaiting to go back to their homes safely

The situation of the residents forcibly displaced from the city of Sere Kaniye/Ras al-Ain under occupation, residing in the Washo Kani camp, located west of Hasakah city in al-Jazira Canton, is becoming more challenging. More than 16,000 people have been facing difficult humanitarian conditions since autumn 2019, displaced following the Turkish occupation and mercenaries' assault on and takeover of the city.

Though more than five years have now passed since they were forced out of their homes, they still wait for their modest demand to be met: return home safely.

Endurance of daily difficulties in tents which are barely sheltered from the summer sun or winter cold.

In the camp, 2,259 families are stretched out in tents without the most basic necessities of life, with declining health and environmental crises and a stark lack of basic amenities such as electricity, water, and sanitation.

Ahmed Al-Eidan,  displaced person from Ras al-Ain, clarified, "In the heat of the day, the tents are becoming ovens. We can no longer reside in them. There is also general filth and bad hygiene. Yesterday, we lost a young child from a snakebite."

Al-Eidan also stated, "Washokani camp is now a nightmare which we live every day. We are not asking for the impossible; we just wish to return home. We appeal to the United Nations and human rights organizations to put pressure upon us to ensure our safe return." "Life in the camp is like a pandemic."

Salem Al-Ali, himself a refugee, spoke of the vicious suffering which has made life in the camp unbearable when he stated, "We live in wretched conditions. The heat is lethal, services don't exist. All we want is to go back to our deprived neighborhoods and live with dignity."

Al-Ali clarified that he lost much due to the bombing during the Turkish occupation, saying, "My child was injured because of the occupation bombing, and we have lost lots of material. We simply requested to go back; it is our most basic right."

Calls for an End to the Tragedy

Of this tragic reality, the Serekaniye internally displaced persons continue to raise their voices and appeals, asking the international powers to assume their responsibilities and put pressure on to end the Turkish occupation of the region and for the voluntary and safe return of the displaced to their cities and villages.

The camp is also a living testimony to one of the biggest forced displacement operations in northern Syria, under international abandonment and the continued tragedy without solutions within reach.

ANHA