NGO in NE Syria condemns government siege on Afrin IDPs in Aleppo
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, the Afrin Social Association appealed to international organizations to intervene for lifting the Syrian government siege on Afrin IDPs who reside in two neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo, northwestern Syria, and in camps in its northern countryside.
The Afrin Social Association was established in the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, in November 2021 to help Afrin IDPs and meet their requirements.
For a week, checkpoints of the government forces’ Fourth Division have been preventing the entry of fuel into the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh in the city of Aleppo, as well as into the camps which house Afrin IDPs north of the city.
The association stated in a release that the Syrian government imposes a “suffocating siege” on the IDPs, preventing the entry of necessities such as medicine, flour, food, and fuel, with the latter being a primary concern.
On Saturday, the Education Board of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) in the northern countryside of Aleppo suspended schools due to fuel shortages.
Rozlin Bakr, member of the Afrin Social Association, told North Press that the Syrian government siege on the IDPs constitutes a “crime.”
The statement warned that thousands of IDPs face a humanitarian disaster and appealed to international organizations to intervene for lifting the siege.