Al-Shahba is still under siege

Since the beginning of the attack of the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries on January 20, 2018 on Afrin, the government of Damascus continues to besiege the canton of al-Shahba and the displaced from Afrin in the region's camps, obstructing the movement of citizens and access of humanitarian aid and basic materials to the displaced in the camps and the people of the region, through security checkpoints surrounding the canton.

According to statistics by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the area contains, in addition to the people of Al-Shahba, the displaced people of Afrin, who numbered about 250 thousand people: more than 133 thousand people live in 5 camps: Sardam, Berxwedan , Afrin, Al-Awda, and Al-Shahba, and 120 thousand people live in semi-destroyed homes.

Despite the flexibility that the Damascus government temporarily shows regarding the entry of materials into al-Shahba canton, doubts still lie among the district administration and the displaced from Afrin, at a time when Damascus continues to impose large sums of money in exchange for the entry of basic materials into the canton.

'Continuous siege

The co-chair of the Executive Council of the occupied Afrin region, Bakr Alou, confirms that the Damascus government continues to create obstacles and restrict the movement of citizens to and from al-Shahba areas, which began in conjunction with the Turkish occupation army's attack on Afrin canton.

Alou said in a statement to our agency: "Since the attacks of the Turkish occupation army on Afrin, the Syrian regime has closed the roads to the city of Aleppo in front of the displaced from Afrin, and imposed a siege on it, and these difficulties and obstacles still exist, and the people of the region cannot move between the two areas comfortably."

He added, "From time to time, the regime closes roads to the people of the region, and deals with the people of the region as if they are not Syrian citizens, through its policies, despite the displacement and occupation of their lands to which the people have been exposed."

He said, "We are citizens of these countries and we have human and national rights, and we are the owners of occupied areas, and we have human rights before the United Nations and the Syrian regime."

'Large sums of money for allowing basic materials into al-Shahba'

On the latest developments and what the al-Shahba canton is witnessing, Bakr Alou said: “Despite recent meetings, difficulties and obstacles still exist. Regime forces’ checkpoints impose large amounts of money on the materials brought to the area, and impede patients’ access to hospitals in the city of Aleppo, and limit the people movement."

Alaou 'played down some of the verbal promises made by Damascus to ease the siege on al-Shahba canton, and considered them "temporary understandings that the Damascus government forces might leave at any moment." He added, "The people of the region are still suffering even though they are Syrian citizens and they have the right to move without restrictions or such kind of behavior. "

Alou noted that they informed the Russian side of the Damascus government forces’ violations in the region, and made it clear that Russia remains silent. He said: “These difficulties have been shared with us by all the Russian delegations that visit the camps and the region, and we have received promises from them, but it is in vain."

Alou believes that it is government of Damascus’ constitutional duty to secure the basic needs of its citizens, resort to dialogue and move away from these policies, considering that this is the most appropriate solution and the only guarantee for reaching a solution to the Syrian crisis.

Alou said: "We hope that the regime will remove those difficulties that hinder the movement of the people of the region, and facilitate the way for basic materials to arrive from the Autonomous Administration areas in northern and eastern Syria, and what the regime intends to do, today, does not serve to reach solutions to the Syrian crisis, and serves the parties involved in it, on top of which is the Turkish occupation."

J.O

ANHA