Afrinpost
Today, Thursday, a number of self-management institutions in Al-Shahba, issued a statement regarding the health risks of the spread of the Corona virus, which is now a worldwide concern, spreads across different parts of the world, and kills thousands of lives.
The statement said: “In the name of the displaced people of Afrin who are in Al-Shahba to the World Health Organization, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report for emerging coronary disease (19-COVID), and the report stated that the Ministry of The Syrian health confirmed that all the cases were suspected, and that there were no infected.
To counter the threat, the World Health Organization provides all means of support and assistance to the Syrian Ministry of Health to supplement its ability and readiness to respond to this epidemic by providing detection and monitoring equipment, training health personnel in several governorates, and providing quarantine centers in addition to holding workshops aimed at enhancing awareness and understanding the risks of the epidemic.
They added: Through the report, we see great efforts to help the Syrians dealing with the threat of this epidemic, but it is very clear that a very large geographical area in which thousands of displaced people are living in since two years, amid great disregard from the World Health Organization and the Syrian government as well, the areas where the displaced from the Syrian city of Afrin, who were forcibly displaced from their areas by the Turkish army and its militant Islamic factions, suffer from a significant weakness in providing services, especially health services.
The institutions have mentioned the reasons that make this geographical area (Al-Shahba) more likely to be infected with the virus, like:
Al-Shahba is located in the western and northern countryside of Aleppo and is located between the cities of Al-Bab and Azaz, which is an easy-to-reach area with extensive agricultural lands, fertile soil, and abundant hills. It consists of the following main towns (Tal Rifaat – Tal Qarrah – Tal Shair – Al Ahdath – Fafin – Derjamal – Kafr Naya – Ahras), but this geographical area is not suitable for a healthy living, because of the following reasons:
- Al-Shahba is considered one of the liberated areas of ISIS in 2016, after a war that lasted two years, and behind which ruined all infrastructure, such as homes, schools, water supply stations, bakeries, and health centers.
- The geography of Al-Shahba is considered to be a contaminated geography and a suitable place for the spread of diseases and its transmission as a result of its been disregarded for many years. Unfortunately, the displaced people of Afrin have had to live in this environment against their will being relatively safe, as you will find displaced people living in half-destroyed homes where there are no healthy life condition.
Here we want to mention that at a time when the world no longer mentions leishmaniasis, there are hundreds of people live with it and receive treatment with great difficulty due to the lack of medicines and serum for leishmaniasis. Imagine with us what would happen if the region was infected with this dangerous virus !
3.There is a severe siege on this area, on the one hand, by the armed factions standing on the outskirts of Al-Shahba, and on the one hand by the Syrian government road blocks that impede the movement of the displaced, which makes it dangerous if the virus spreads. So the people of Afrin are asking how they will be able to go to Aleppo as it is the nearest area can be reached for treatment.
- As for the displaced people in the five camps, it is really disastrous that the camps are usually the first places to receive diseases, and spread them especially in the absence of sterilization and insecticides.
The institutions mentioned the absence of the supplies they need in order to face any possible spread of the virus, which includes various respiratory medical equipment, and said that this appeal is in the name of the displaced people of Afrin in Al-Shahba (northern Aleppo countryside) and was prepared by the Kurdish Red Crescent, but the signatories below support and support this appeal and include their voice to the voices of the displaced, namely: – Democratic self-administration in Al-Shahba – Camp administration in Al-Shahba – Administration of Afrin Hospital – Health Authority in Al-Shahba – Human rights in Al-Shahba – Kurdish Red Crescent in Al-Shahba.
