RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Maryam al-Thalaj, a mother of seven the eldest of whom is sixteen years old, was unable to buy her children clothes for Eid al-Adha, Islamic festival, despite their need for new outfits, because they have been wearing worn out clothes for several years.
The mother, who is an IDP from the eastern countryside of Homs and lives in al-Zahir Camp in Raqqa countryside, said that most of the IDPs in the camp and other camps in the countryside of Raqqa have abstained from celebrating or preparing for the Eid due to their harsh living conditions.
IDPs in squatter camps in the countryside of Raqqa miss the spirit and rituals of Eid because they are unable to buy any of the Eid’s needs.
She noted that it is not the first time or the first Eid she has not been able to buy sweets, candies and clothes for her children. Over the past several years, this is how the Eid used to pass.
She further explained that the poor living conditions of residents of the squatter camps prompted them to abandon many things, including celebrating and preparing for Eid, rather they are busy doing their best to meet the basic needs of their families.
About 90,000 IDPs live in the squatter camps of Raqqa, where no relief and humanitarian assistance are provided, in light of difficult humanitarian conditions that are gradually getting worse.
The residents of these camps come from differnt Syrian areas such as Homs, Hama and Aleppo, who were forces to flee their areas as a result of a long-running war, battles between the government forces and the Islamic state Organization (ISIS) and resorted to Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)-held areas.
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defeated ISIS militarily.
The IDPs have repeatedly called on officials in Raqqa to provide them with aid, but the officials say that the closure of al-Ya’rubiyah border-crossing prevents this.
On Wednesday, Russia offered a proposal to the UN Security Council to reauthorize Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey for six month not a year without mentioning al-Ya’rubiyah.
The closure of al-Yarubiyah continues, depriving thousands of hundreds IDPs in northeast Syria from their right to food and clothes.
Al-Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher) border-crossing is located on the Syrian- Iraqi border, which was the most official crossing between the two countries prior to the Syrian conflict in 2011.
Prior to the crossing’s closure in 2019, which happed due to a Russian-Chinese veto in the UN Security Council, 103 medical facilities were receiving aid across this crossing according to a report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the Security Council in the beginning of 2020.
The successive Russian-Chinese vetoes continued the closure of the border crossing ignoring the urgent needs of residents and IDPs in this part of Syria.
Officials of the AANES and the displaced repeatedly call for neutrlizing the area from political disputes and reopen it after two years of closure.
The camps in northeastern Syria used to rely primarily on the aid received from al-Ya’rubiyah crossing, which is the main lifeline of the region.
Sheikhmous Ahmad, co-chair of the IDPs and Refugees Affairs Office of the AANES, said that the continuous closure of the crossing, in light of the difficult economic conditions in the world and Syria in particular, exacerbates the hard living conditions for those who live in camps.
Abdullah al-Daghimi, a 60-year-old IDP from the eastern countryside of Homs, believes that it is better to buy the necessary basics if he is able to meet the family’s need than buying anything else.
The displaced person, who lives in al-Zahir Camp, indicated that Eid passes as a normal day in the camp, a day full of suffering.
Al-Daghimi is a father of ten, the eldest of whom is 18, and he needs about 500.000 Syrian pounds (SYP, equals $125) to buy clothes for his children.
“The worker makes only 2.000 SYP in turn for working two hours a day, What can you buy with 2.000 SYP”? Bread, food or cloths?I do not know what to do with it,” al-Daghimi said.
Eid has become a day to remember bitterness of displacement, and to remember our homes and the Eid rituals that we used to live before the displacement, the elderly added.