Washokani IDPs call for end to suffering amid floods, bitter cold

ANHA agency visited Washokani camp and documented the damage. Families had taken their wet furniture and belongings outside their tents and spread them around in an attempt to dry them and salvage what remained. Meanwhile, women were busy washing clothes and cleaning items damaged by water leaking into the tents and sewage backing up inside them, as the area enters the early stages of winter.

“We stayed out in the open until morning”

Describing what his family endured overnight, Ibrahim Abdullah, a displaced man from the Tal Tamr countryside, said: “We and our children stayed out in the open until morning because our tent had filled with water. Nothing was left untouched by the water. We spent the entire night standing, while our children shivered from the cold, unable to do anything.”

Abdullah questioned why the return convoys had stopped, saying: “Why have the return convoys stopped? What is the reason? If they sent two convoys from the camp every week, this tragedy would end and no one would remain in the camp. We must be returned to our homes so we can escape this suffering.”

“Our villages must be cleared of mines”

In the same context, Ali al-Shello, a displaced man from the Tal Tamr countryside, described the extent of the damage, saying: “If the rain had continued for another hour, the camp would have turned into a pool of water. We took the children out of the tents, and none of our furniture was left. Sewage water also backed up into our tents. We are still at the beginning of winter, yet we have already experienced this tragedy. What will our situation be like when winter sets in?”

He added that the displaced people’s suffering was also compounded by fears of returning home because of the presence of landmines in their villages. He stressed that their villages must be secured and the dangers removed before residents can return. “Our villages and homes, which are riddled with landmines, must be made safe. We could not sleep last night, as the alleyways had turned into rivers of water,” he said.

“There is no longer any difference between inside and outside the tent”

For her part, Rabia Ahmed, a displaced woman from the countryside of Serê Kaniyê, described the ordeal she and her family endured, saying: “We prayed to God to protect us from the heavy rain, but all we could see was water pouring into our tent, forcing me to take my children outside. Yesterday, there was no difference between being inside the tent and being outside.”

She added that the families’ living conditions required urgent action to bring their suffering to an end, calling for no further delays to the return convoys so that they could escape their ordeal.

Yazi al-Ali, a displaced woman from the Serê Kaniyê countryside, also expressed her desire to return home, saying: “We want our homes back. Years of displacement have left us with nothing but suffering in the camps.”

At the end of their accounts, displaced people in both camps called for urgent action to resolve the displacement issue and ensure a safe and swift return to their villages and homes.

ANHA