RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – “Our life is badly difficult,” by this words al-Saho describes the living conditions in Tel al-Bayaa makeshift camp, east of Raqqa, northern Syria.
The 71-year-old Fayez al-Saho was displaced from the countryside of Homs in central Syria to Tel al-Bayaa camp, five km east of Raqqa; more than five years ago, fleeing war, but recently his living situations have deteriorated due to the lack of aid.
The IDPs of makeshift camps in Raqqa’s countryside suffer from dire living and humanitarian conditions due to the decline in support and the lack of organizations that sponsor them.
“We used to receive food rations periodically every month, but for more than six months, we have not received any aid, and no organization has come to help us amid our bad situation,” al-Saho told North Press.
Al-Saho lives in an old torn tent that he made of sackcloth, since nobody provided them with prefabricated tent, and he cannot renew his tent due to his poor financial capabilities.
The deteriorating living situation of the IDPs comes at a time when the unprecedented funding crisis in Syria has forced the UNWFP to announce a reduction in aid, which will be delivered to only 2.5 million people out of the 5.5 million who rely on it to meet basic needs of food.
The living conditions of al-Saho and all the IDPs in the makeshift camps across northeast Syria have worsened since the closure of the al-Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher) border crossing in July 2020.
The Tel Kocher border crossing is the only entry point for humanitarian aid in north and east Syria. It was closed in early 2020 as a result of vetoes by both Russia and China in the UN Security Council.
Since July 2020, Bab al-Hawa, between Turkey and Syria, has been the only crossing kept open to UN aid based on Resolution 2533 (2020), while the use of the others was curtailed.
The last extension for the entry of humanitarian aid into Syria through the Bab al-Hawa expires in July 2023, then the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled to vote for the extension of the cross-border aid mechanism into Syria.
The ongoing closure of the Tel Kocher border crossing with Iraq is having a detrimental effect on the situation in local camps and shelters, according to officials of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Meanwhile, Masira al-Hamoud, 48 years old, who is an IDP in the same camp, is forced to work long hours behind a sewing machine to help her husband, who works as a guard on one of the agricultural lands in the area.
However, she complains that most women who asked her to sew for them do not pay her the sewing fees, because they do not have money even though she takes less than 10,000 SYP for each piece she sews.
The IDPs in makeshift camps tend to work in farmlands near their camps, but most of their work is seasonal.
There are 58 makeshift camps in Raqqa, in which the majority of the IDPs face living difficulties and catastrophic humanitarian conditions, especially after most of the organizations ceased their work in Raqqa.
The AANES repeatedly calls on the NGOs to support these camps, which house about 90,000 displaced people, but all in vain.
There are 346 families living in Tel al-Bayaa camp, including 1,739 children and 1,385 women, in addition to 11 people with special needs, according to statistics from the Raqqa Civil Council.
Baraa al-Khalaf, 23, who was displaced with her family from Maadan area to the camp, opened a small clinic inside her tent, to provide free emergency medical services for IDPs.
The lady tries to help her neighbors by providing free service, benefiting from her experience in nursing from working in a private hospital in Raqqa, but the difficult living conditions of her family compel her to live in the camp.
The tragic living situation of the IDPs has prompted her to treat and supervise some cases, especially since the makeshift camps lack medical services, so they are more vulnerable to the spread of diseases and epidemics, she told North Press.