Afrinpost – Special
Afrin people, who were forcibly displaced from their homes, to Al-Shahba canton, are preparing to endure the third winter, and to face the difficulties and harshness of daily life on them, and they confirms the steadfastness and bearing the burdens of life in order to restore their land and return to their homes as soon as possible.
A third year is drawing to a close, as the Turkish aggression against Afrin began on 1/20/2020, that is, in the winter, and today we are on the verge of a new winter, while the people of Afrin region, the resistance fighters, are in al-Shahba, who are distributed among the camps and destroyed homes.
On such days, the people take measures to prevent rainwater from leaking into the tents, place stones around them, and seek to secure plastic to cover the roofs of the tents.
The People’s Municipality in Afrin is making every effort with all its staff and working within the available capabilities to secure the basic winter materials and requirements in the camps of al-Shahba canton and Sherawa sub-district in Afrin canton, and diesel fuel is distributed to each family in addition to the heaters, and at the same time the winter clothes are distributed.
Citizen Zainab Youssef, a resident of Serdem camp in al-Shahba canton, says: “In the winter there is rain and suffering. Curse on Turkey and its mercenaries. We hope that we will not stay here for more time, and we endure this winter here as well. Where mud and rain water fill the place, we are forced to stay until we return home. ”
Zainab continues, “With the arrival of winter, we are preparing the tents and their surroundings to prevent rain from leaking into them, and we cover them with plastic (thick nylon), but it is difficult for us to secure it.”
Citizen Riad Ezzat Alo said: “It is true that we are here for the third year, and we have taken previous measures, but it is necessary to do some maintenance work around the tents, to shelter from the rain and mud, and this is the third winter in the camps, and we endure all this suffering to return to our land and liberate it from the Turkish occupation and its militias.
The issue of forcibly displaced people from Afrin, at its core, is the issue of Afrin, which has been occupied by force, and the rest of its residents are being restricted to expel them from it, and complete the demographic change plan. Therefore, it cannot be reduced to the procedures for servicing camps, strengthening them and isolating them. Settlers seize their homes, and they trade them by sale and purchase as if it were their property and steal the seasons of olives.
If the winter portends cold and difficult conditions of life, but it completes the cycle of life, while the Turkish aggression and the militias loyal to it, they were clouds of bad rain that rained down on Afrin with shells of hatred and black death, and disrupted the life cycle, and forced the people out of their homes, to live on the outskirts of their area. Hope to return every day. What is required is to work to end the occupation, to secure a correct environment to secure the return of the displaced to their homes, and this responsibility is multi-level, humanitarian, national and Kurdish.
