By Fayyad Muhammad/Fatima Khaled
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Muhammad al-Issa has tried to adapt displacement conditions in Tel al-Samen, a makeshift camp in Raqqa Governorate in northern Syria, for four years, after he, with his family, left their home due to the Syrian conflict.
“In the beginning, things were somewhat good,” al-Issa says, but now he is suffering from harsh conditions due to lack of support including health and education.
Al-Issa and his family have lived in Tel al-Samen camp since they left their home in the village of al-Hijaziyah in the countryside of Tel Abyad, north of Raqqa, after it was occupied by Turkey.
The city of Tel Abyad and its countryside have been under the Turkish occupation since 2019 following a military operation named “Peace Spring” that was launched by the Turkish forces and their affiliated armed opposition factions, known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), to push away the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under the pretext of protecting the Turkish national security.
Insufficient support
Al-Issa says the camp has recently lacked support in all aspects, the matter causes them more pressures.
“There are no job opportunities in the camp to secure our needs, so we have to buy our necessities and medicine in light of high prices.”
Tel al-Samen IDPs have to work in agricultural farms near the camp to gain money, but unfortunately the work in agriculture is seasonal and not permanent.
“We are tired,” he added, “We only want to return to our homes because living in the camp is no longer intolerable.”
Tel al-Samn camp, some 35 km north of Raqqa, was established by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) to house the displace people of Tel Abyad after they fled the Turkish aggression in 2019.
Shortage of medicines
Maryam al-Abd sits in front of a tent, watching her sick daughter for fear of her relapse again to rush her to the nearest medical center or doctor outside the camp.
“The dispensary of the camp no longer serves the purpose and does not provide any services or medicines for a while, after cessation of support and shortage of the number of doctors”, al-Abd told North Press.
The mother is forced to take her daughter to a private doctor outside the camp, after she had a heatstroke.
After most of the non-governmental organizations withdrew from the camp, the medical center witnessed a shortage of medicines and even emergency equipment, according to officials in the camp.
There are 67 marginalized makeshift camps in AANES-held areas that hold 19,223 families who have suffered from ongoing crises for over nine years.
Insufficient Services
“The services of the camp were good at the beginning. We used to receive aid, but now most of that aid have been lost,” Afraa Ali, an IDP woman in the camp says.
Ali has to fix her tent by covering it with blankets after it was worn out by the sunlight and rainfall, as the camp’s management cannot bring them new tents.
The camp suffers from a shortage of new tents for about three years due to the cessation of the NGOs.
Lack of educational process
“The children go to the camp’s school every day, but they return after a short period due to the absence of teachers,” Ali adds.
There are no NGOs to sponsor the educational process in the camp. This means that the children will face the risk of illiteracy.
“The camp is witnessing a severe shortage in all fields,” Muhammad Sheikh Ali, Co-chair of Tel al-Saman camp, says.
He adds that there is only one mobile clinic, belonging to one of the NGOs, that comes to the camp for just a few hours and leaves.
Sheikh Ali pointed out that there are 1,525 students in the camp who are in dire need of education. “We appealed to the concerned parties but we have received no response,” he noted.
“The nature of the land on which the camp was built is desert, so the weather there is very hot in summer and this has increased the suffering of the displaced people in light of the absence of cooling methods”, Ali point out.
“Also the lack of medical support in the camp caused the death of two children who contracted pneumonia. The health center in the camp lacks quality medicines and equipment”, he mentioned.
The chairman of the camp appeal to concerned organizations to provide support and expand the camp for receiving more displaced families from northern Raqqa areas.