Escape between the hell of death and poverty from Deir ez-Zor to Raqqa
Raqqa – North-Press Agency
Ahmad al-Hassan
The family of Um Khaled fled the hell of war and conflict in Deir ez-Zor to find itself in a more difficult hell, which is the poverty that afflicted them in the city of Raqqa. The elderly Um Khaled left Deir ez-Zor seven years ago after the intensification of the fighting between the Syrian opposition groups and the Syrian government forces, where she left with her family to the town of al-Garanij in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, to al-Mayadeen, and then to al-Bukamal.
Fatigued by moving from one area to the other, Um Khaled settled in Ein Issa IDP camp, before moving a year ago to the city of Raqqa.
The high costs and the lack of breadwinner for her and her family, had forced her to pay a cart to sell corn in the gardens near her home, in an attempt to secure the medication for her diabetes, which has led to the weakness of her eyesight.
Her disease, and the burden of house rental, and expenditure for electricity, water and food, in addition to other necessities of life were a heavy burden on Um Kahled.
She pushes her cart every day to settle in front of a school, garden or a place close to gathering of children and parents to sell what can be sold of simple goods.
In summer, she sells ice-cream, which is made in a primitive and simple way during the daylight hours, while she sells boiled corn in the evenings.
Um Khaled earns a little money, where she told North Press: “Most of the time it isn’t enough for key needs. Since our arrival in the city of Raqqa, we haven’t received any help. No one knows about us”.
The head of Labor and Social Affairs Committee in Raqqa’s Civil Council, Abdul Salam Hamsorek said in an earlier statement to North-Press that the Committee is working to guide organizations operating in Raqqa to help the poorest families.
It is said that, the battles in most Syrian cities were the reason of the displacement of thousands of families to safer cities, and Raqqa became a destination for many of these families after the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS), and the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the formation of Raqqa’s Civil Council.