RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – IDPs in Jarwa Camp, 25 kilometers north of the city of Raqqa, north Syria, say they cannot afford to buy flour in light of its high price this year.
Humanitarian organizations working in Raqqa have not provided bread ingredients for the camp since its construction for four years, amid the reluctance of the owners of bakeries in the region to sell them bread, according to IDPs.
No allocations
Jarwa Camp is one of the informal camps in Raqqa, and is located next to a series of camps of Hazima, al-Hatash and al-Jarbou’. It hosts more than 150 families, most of whom are IDPs from the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
The Office of Supply and Ovens in the People’s Municipality in Raqqa do not allocate any flour to the informal camps, “because a number of organizations took responsibility for providing bread to them,” according to a previous statement by the Office’s head, Moustafa Bouzan.
The CHF and Blumont organizations are distributing bread to some of the informal camps in Raqqa’s countryside, according to the Consumer Protection and Market Follow-up Department in the Economic Committee of Raqqa Civil Council.
Jamil al-Jadou’, an IDP living in Jarwa Camp, said he is facing difficulties in securing bread for his family, as “no organizations or ovens provide us with bread.”
In December 2020, CHF conducted an assessment and required studies for the residents of the camp in order to provide them with bread.
However, the residents of the camps told North Press that they have not received any bags of bread so far.
The IDPs are forced to buy flour and make bread. One 50kg bag of flour is sold for more than 70,000 Syrian pound (SYP), while others resort to buying bread from sellers at high prices (six pieces of bread for 1,000 SYP).
Days without bread
Al-Jadou’a added that each time he goes to the bakery to obtain bread, “I return empty-handed, because the one responsible for the bakeries refuses to sell to us.”
IDPs in informal camps are facing difficult living conditions amid the collapse of the value of the Syrian pound, the rising prices of food, and the insufficient and irregular aid provided by organizations.
On days when she cannot secure bread, Fatima Muhammad, an IDP living in Jarwa Camp, resorts to feeding her children rice or bulgur, and says that “days may pass without having bread.”
She expressed her dissatisfaction with not being able to buy flour, explaining that “one bag of flour may not be enough for my family for two weeks; if I could buy it, as we are unemployed.”
Several days ago, Muhammad went to the bakery of Hikomiya vaillage, adjacent to the camp, to buy bread, “but I could not obtain any although I waited for hours.”
Complaints
According to the IDPs, they submitted several complaints to the council of Hazima village to solve the bread problem, but “the latter said that the ovens office of the Economic Committee did not allocate any quantity of flour for the IDPs.”
The Head of Consumer Protection and Market Follow-up Department in the Economic Committee in Raqqa, Mustafa Abbas, said they have not received any complaints by the IDPs living in informal camps regarding bread material, and “that is why the Department took no action.”
“The Department is conducting an assessment for the residents of the informal camps in the southern countryside of Raqqa, and it will also conduct assessments in the northern countryside in the coming weeks,” al-Abbas added.
He added that “according to these assessments, they will allocate flour material for each camp that has not been targeted by organizations.”