Syria’s Manbij IDPs continue to suffer under al-Ya’rubiyah closure
Al-Asadiya IDP camp in the southern countryside of Manbij, northern Syria – North Press
MANBIJ, Syria (North Press) – Sita lives in fear of rain. The appearance of a few clouds are enough to keep her up at night. The fear stems from the living conditions she and her family have endured over the past years at one of Syria’s IDP camps.
Sita al-Ali, 52, provides for a family of seven. She was displaced from Aleppo and currently resides at the al-Asadiya IDPs camp south of the city of Manbij in northern Syria.
Her tent is ripped; during the winter months, she and her family are exposed to bone-chilling winds. Heating devices are unavailable at this camp. So is diesel fuel and wood. The family cannot afford the diesel on the black market.
IDPs living in the Manbij camps complain about lacking support from NGOs operating in the region and the continued closure of the al-Yar’ubiyah (Tel Kocher) border crossing and its effects on the amount of aid delivered to them.
The tent which houses al-Ali and her family lacks basic appliances, as do many of those in al-Asadiya camp.
Al-Ali said that her tent was being flooded by rainfall. They had spent many sleepless nights.
She and many other IDPs use loose pieces of fabric or nylon to patch their tents, which they also burn for heating.
Al-Ali bemoans the lack of aid delivered by NGOs, which “do not fulfill their duties towards IDPs, especially in the winter.” They have made no provisions to protect camp residents from the elements, she says.
In June 2022, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) called on the United Nations (UN) to meet its responsibilities towards thousands of IDPs, refugees and those forcibly deported who live in dozens of camps across the region.
The UN mandate to deliver cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria is set to expire on January 10.
In July 2014, the UNSC adopted Resolution 2165 which authorized the UN to deliver cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria through four crossings al-Ramtha crossing with Jordan, Bab al-Salameh and Bab al-Hawa with Turkey, and Tel Kocher with Iraq, without the consent of the Syrian government.
In January 2020, UN Res. 2504 was adopted which reduced the number of border crossings to only Bab al-Salameh and Bab al-Hawa for a period of six months open to renewal in a special meeting by the UNSC.
Since July 2020, Bab al-Hawa has been the only crossing kept open to UN aid based on Resolution 2533 (2020), while the use of the others was curtailed.
In July 2022, the UNSC approved extending lifesaving aid deliveries into northwest Syria through the Bab al-Hawa crossing for six months.
According to the Manbij Social Affairs and Work Committee, there are 1.954 families – in total of 9.786 individuals – living in makeshift camps scattered across the Manbij countryside. A further 1.012 families – in total of 5.190 individuals – live in UN-recognized camps stretching from Dayr Hafer to Maskana, south of Manbij, in government-held territory.
Hamida al-Hamoud, 33, an IDP from Dayr Hafir, is also a resident of al-Asadiya camp. She, too, complains about unbearable living conditions and the harsh winter weather.
Hamida said that it has been a year since she and her family received humanitarian aid from an NGO. They have also gone a month without receiving any food rations, though not any winter- related items or appliances, such as sponges, winter clothes and stoves. Their situation is a ”terrible and a most tragic one,” she says.
Hamida warned North Press should they carry on like this and nothing else is delivered, their children could freeze to death – they are in dire need of help.
Two years ago, vetoes by Russia and China prevented the re-opening of the sole remaining border crossing between northeast Syria and Iraq. It remains closed to this day.
IDPs in Manbij’s camps decry this decision and the continued closure of Tel Kocher, saying that their situation could deteriorate even further should the decision remain in place.
Leen Hamam, an administrator in the AANES Camps Management for the Manbij Region, told North Press “it has been nearly two years since any winter-related items were distributed to the makeshift camps.”
Hamam told North Press that Manbij’s Camps Management contacted humanitarian NGOs operating in Manbij to deliver aid, but to no avail.
She appealed to the NGOs, saying that the situation in Manbij’s camps is “horrible and in need of support.”