Difficult humanitarian conditions experienced by women in displacement camps

The suffering of the displaced in the displacement camps in the North and East Syria is worsening day after day, as they live under difficult humanitarian conditions, especially with the onset of winter and the increase in life’s requirements.

6,888 displaced women and men live in the Girê Spi displaced persons camp, which was established by the Autonomous Administration on November 22, 2019 to house the displaced people of the occupied Girê Spi district, and 16 thousand displaced men and women live in the Washo Kani camp, which is 12 kilometers away from the city of Hasakah, among 2,625 families from the occupied Serêkaniyê and its affiliated villages and towns.

These displaced people, who live under these difficult conditions after losing their main sources of income as a result of their exposure to displacement by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries, refuse to submit to the conditions of displacement that were imposed on them, and they always try to work to secure their basic needs, whether by heading to work in agricultural fields, or practicing a craft to earn a living. It meets their needs, in addition to the job opportunities provided by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

With the onset of winter, work in agricultural fields stopped, causing hundreds of families in the camps to lose their sources of work, and causing them hardship in living and lack of resourcefulness to manage their affairs in this season, which increased the expenses and requirements of life.

The displaced woman, Adla al-Muhammad, who lives in Sere Kaniye camp, and was cleaning her heater next to her tent, said: “In the summer, job opportunities are available for all women in the camp, as we used to go out on a daily basis to work in the agricultural fields surrounding the camp, but with the onset of winter, this source of work stopped.” “We now need a daily income to meet a long list of our families’ needs.”

Adla Al-Muhammad pointed out that the camp administration provides them with one job opportunity every year for them to benefit from “for one month, but this is not enough to support my family of 8 members, and my husband, who is unable to work due to his advanced age and the loss of his previous source of income (agricultural land). Which he owned before we were displaced by the Turkish occupation.”

The family of the displaced woman, Adla, will have to wait for a job opportunity provided by the camp administration, and spend the financial savings she has been able to obtain from her and her daughters’ day labor during the summer.

Meanwhile, the situation of the immigrant Jihan Ali (40 years old) was better than that of the immigrant Adla, as she works as a women’s seamstress, and her work is considered the basic work of the family. Because her family members are young and need constant expenses as the cold gets worse, such as heating materials, winter clothes, medicines, etc.

Jihan Ali stated in an interview with ANHA agency that she has not yet received the subsidized heating diesel provided by the Autonomous Administration to the displaced families living in the camp (300 liters at a price of 100 thousand Syrian pounds), and that she is often forced to use gas as an alternative to provide some warmth for her young children despite Its risks include being unable to purchase heating material from the free market at exorbitant prices.

She added that what sewing work generates is not enough “to meet the needs of my entire family as it increases in the winter,” but despite the difficult life requirements, I can secure some basics for my family, and my situation is better than other displaced families who rely on day labor or seizing the job opportunities it provides by camp management.

As for the displaced Houria Daham Suleiman, who lives in her modest tent with her family members of 15 people, in the Washo Kani camp, she said: “Five years since the Turkish occupation of our city and our land, we are living in these camps despite all the difficulties until we return to our homes.”

For her part, the immigrant Fatima Al-Saleh, from the village of Al-Arisha in the Sere Kaniye region occupied by Turkey and its mercenaries, said: “We are in the camps today, because we lost our property, our villages, and everything we own because of the Turkish occupation of our region.”

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is working alone to provide support to the displaced, at a time when these camps are witnessing a complete absence of humanitarian organizations.

T/ Satt

ANHA