Syria’s Afrin IDPs celebrate fifth Ramadan away from their homeland
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Bulgur and salad has only become the main meal for iftar during Ramadan for the IDPs of Afrin who have been taking shelter in Aleppo northern countryside, north Syria, since Turkey’s invasion and control of their region in 2018.
For the fifth Ramadan in a row, displacement conditions, poor living conditions and high prices are forcing the IDPs of Afrin to cancel Ramadan rituals they used to do before their displacement, including giving up many types of food.
In the first day of Ramadan, Afrin people used to gather in the family’s house and prepare delicious food, but now, they have nothing to eat but olive oil and thyme, and the members of the family have scattered, as most of them emigrated to other cities or even outside Syria.
Additionally, like other Syrian regions, the prices of the basic foodstuffs have gone crazy plus a shortage of household gas cylinders due to frequent embargo imposed by the Syrian government.
In March 2018, Turkish forces and Turkish-backed armed factions took control over the city of Afrin and its countryside, displacing more than 300,000 indigenous people towards Shahba region, Aleppo northern countryside.
Some of them resorted to camps namely al-Awda, Afrin, Barkhodan, Sardam and Shahba, while others settled in 42 villages and towns in Aleppo northern countryside, as some families moved to other Syrian towns and cities, most notably to areas run by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).