By Furat al-Rehayyil
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Muhammad al-Sheikh, a resident of the village of Abu Susa, east of Raqqa Governorate, north Syria, has to undertake a 22 km journey to reach a medical center located in the town of al-Karama, east of Raqqa, seeking medical treatment.
Al-Sheikh, 44, stated that his village and neighboring villages lack basic necessities and amenities, forcing residents to travel to the al-Karama to access essential services and address various matters.
Villages in the northern countryside of the al-Karama suffer from a lack of basic necessities such as services and medical care, according to residents who describe the situation as “neglected”.
Al-Sheikh pointed out that the nearest medical center to their village is the al-Karama Medical Center. However, for minor cases, patients are often not taken to the center, because it is very far from the village.
In addition, residents face difficulties in transporting emergency cases, particularly for those who lack the means to travel.
Hamed al-Hamad, 33, a resident of the village of Abu Tutha, north of the al-Karama, also suffers from the lack of medical and service centers serving those villages.
Al-Hamad said that the situation of services in the villages affiliated with Raqqa’s desert is deplorable, as there are no educational institutions, and despite submitting numerous complaints to Education Committee, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), no action has been taken to address the issue.
Al-Hamad further explains that only one teacher was appointed to the entire village, which has 34 students, but he was assigned to another place after only one month. As a result, the children in the village have been left without proper access to education.
Due to the lack of educational institutions in their villages, the majority of residents are forced to send their children either to the al-Karama or to other cities with their relatives to receive schooling.
There are no schools at these villages despite the large number of population there, some prefabricated schools exist. However, there are no teachers in these schools.
Raqqa’s desert is home to approximately 1,100 families across six villages, and residents are demanding the establishment of schools, the appointment of teachers to address their children’s educational needs, and improvements to their service reality and living conditions.
Ali al-Khalid, 47, a resident of the village of al-Qadisiyah, cannot accompany his family to the markets in the al-Karama or other areas because he does not have an appropriate transportation means, as well as there is no public transportation there. He relies on his motorcycle to move around and manage personal affairs and work.
Al-Khalid told North Press that the villages in Raqqa’s desert are marginalized in every aspect, including the basic service of waste collection provided by the municipality, which is considered a fundamental right.
In addition, al-Khalid notes that the roads in the region are in very poor condition, despite submitting several requests to have them paved; no action has been taken yet. These six villages lack essential services such as medical centers, municipal services, a people’s council, and a water station. They depend on irrigation canals to obtain drinking water, which portrait the absence of basic necessities in the area.