By Dilsoz Youssef
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – Displaced people from the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in the northwest of Hasakah in northeastern Syria face harsh conditions and lack of aid and services.
Abdulaziz Hilal, an IDP living in Sere Kaniye camp on the outskirt of Hasakah, expressed to North Press his dissatisfaction about the reduction in relief and aid from NGOs, which has severely impacted their living conditions.
Hilal, who earns a salary of $15 a month for his work at an electrical power substation in the countryside of Hasakah, says services have declined by 60 percent compared to the past two years.
He adds they face challenges regarding food, water, and services. The amount and quality of food aid has been reduced, and its distribution has been delayed.
The water is not safe and has caused a lot of diseases among the camp residents, especially children and people with kidney problems.
He also complains about the poor services in relation to sanitation, hygiene, and electricity.
Hilal points out that problems have worsened the psychological state of all IDPs in the camp and made them consider leaving, as services have gradually deteriorated since 2022 and have gone from bad to worse.
Implications
The reduction of support given to relief NGOs aiding the IDPs and the withdraw of the World Health Organization (WHO) from all camps in Northeast Syria, due to funding shortages, have had negative consequences on the living conditions of the IDPs.
According to official statistics from the administration of the camp, which is managed by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), around 3,000 individuals reside in Sere Kaniye camp.
With rising temperature and lack of services, particularly electricity and clean water within the camp, the rate of intestinal disease has hiked.
In August 2023, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that thousands of IDPs in camps in Northeast Syria do not receive consistent or adequate aid, negatively affecting their basic rights.
HRW stressed the urgent need to obtain appropriate shelters, adequate sanitation, and access to food, clean drinking water, healthcare, and education.
More aid
Salwa Ahmad, co-chair of the administration of Sere Kaniye camp, says only four to five international NGOs provide aid to Sere Kaniye camp. Since the beginning of 2024, however, they announced they face a lack of resources as focus of support shifted to wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Ahmad points out that the lack of support has greatly affected the IDPs.
On March 29, Doctors Without Borders organization (MSF) said that cuts to WHO funding mean patients in camps in Northeast Syria including Hawl Camp would be unable to access critical healthcare outside the camps.
She explains that emergency surgeries have stopped as expenses cost at least 20 million Syrian Pounds (SYP, equals about $1,300) an amount that IDPs cannot afford.
Additionally, there is a shortage of medicines and ambulance services, leading to a lack of healthcare services.
She further adds there shortages in the monthly food baskets, which now have new criteria and have been reduced.
Based on complaints from the IDPs, they held several meetings with these organizations. They justified that they cannot provide more due to lack of resource and limited criteria, Ahmad says.
On Dec. 4, 2023, the World Food Program (WFP) announced that it will end its primary aid program in Syria in January 2024 due to severe lack of funding.
Faced with dire conditions, the IDPs live under tents that have not been replaced since the camp was established four years ago.
Zahiya Hamdosh, 50, an IDP working in a small shop in the camp, says that the conditions in the camp have deteriorated on all aspects.
As temperature approaches 45 degrees Celsius, Hamdosh points out that their suffering has increased with the arrival of summer, explaining that the water allocation for each person is 50 liters daily for all needs, but they do not receive the actual allocations.
She stresses that they have submitted complaints to the organizations demanding to increase aid in light of absence of alternative resources but in vein.