​​​​​​​Afrin's IDPs get ready for fourth winter with spirit of resistance

Turkey and its mercenaries occupied Afrin canton on March 18, 2018, and displaced 300,000 civilians from the canton, a large part of whom live live at 5 camps in al-Shahba canton adjacent to the occupied canton of Afrin.

 Despite the conditions of displacement, the Damascus government imposes a severe siege on them and prevents the entry of fuel, medicine, medical equipment and basic foodstuffs.

 The villages of contact with the occupation witness daily bombardment by the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries.  In these circumstances, the displaced are preparing to receive the fourth winter in the displacement camps.

 After a hot summer, the displaced are preparing for a winter they expect will be cold.

 Before the onset of winter, the displaced at the camps are renewing their tents that protected them from the scorching summer sun, especially this year in which temperatures have witnessed a great rise, as the people, by renovating their tents with their simple available capabilities, are trying to protect themselves from the  severe winter cold.

 The siege weapon and the suffering of the people in the winter

 Despite the suffocating siege imposed by the Damascus government on al-Shahba canton, and preventing the passage of basic materials such as diesel and medicine, except after large sums of money were paid, the People’s Municipality of Afrin Canton and the Afrin Canton Council sought to secure vital necessities for the displaced.

 In this context, the co-chair of the Local Administration Authority (Municipalities) of Afrin Canton, Faiq Ahmed, said, "The five camps in Afrin region host tens of thousands of Afrin's displaced, who made the tent the starting point for their second phase of liberating Afrin and returning to it, but the siege imposed by the Damascus government, things made matters worse, as the roadblocks placed along the road between al-Shahba canton and the city of Aleppo prevent the entry of fuel, foodstuffs and medicine unless large sums of money are paid.”

 Continuous efforts to mitigate the effects of the blockade

 He continued, "Despite our weak capabilities, we are doing everything we can to secure the basic needs of the people by providing covers for the damaged tents and distributing cement and other supplies to fill the gaps and prevent rainwater from leaking into the tents, as happened in the first year of displacement."

 At the conclusion of his speech, Fayek Ahmed called on human rights and humanitarian organizations to play their humanitarian role towards the displaced people of Afrin, to lift the siege of the Damascus government from the al-Shahba canton, and to expel the Turkish occupier from Afrin so that its original inhabitants can return to it.

 'We bear all the difficulties and do not accept living under the banner of the Turkish occupation'

 The displaced Khemkin Othman, from Rajo district, and currently residing in the fifth commune in Barkhdan camp, said, "This is the fourth winter and we live under tents. We are facing, and we adhere to the spirit of resistance, the cold of winter and the heat of summer, to assure the Turkish occupier and its mercenaries that we will liberate Afrin no matter what we face."  difficulties."

 "Today, after being provided with a cement bag and some (blocks) by the camp's municipality, I was able to prepare my tent to face the winter cold as well as the summer heat," Khamkin continued.

 At the conclusion of his speech, Othman affirmed that he adheres to the spirit of resistance against the difficulties in his tent and does not accept living under the banner of occupation.

 It is worth noting that the Social Affairs and Labor Authority of Afrin, despite its weak capabilities as a result of the siege, distributed on the 10th of last October, more than five million liters of diesel fuel to the people of Afrin region, and another batch of the substance is scheduled to be distributed at the beginning of  year 2022.

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 ANHA