KOBANI [AYN ARAB] REFUGEES SET TO FACE A HARSH WINTER

Straddling the road between the towns of the Kur and Suruj in the Urfa region south of Turkey, the Kurdish tragedy of Kobanî's [Ayn Arab] inhabitants, north of Aleppo, is on full display.

The number of registered refugees at the Suruj crossing since last September 18, is 1,183, some of whom actually made it into the toen of Suruj, adjacent to the Syrian Kobanî [Ayn Arab].

Fatima, a young girl, fled with her family from her hometown Kobanî [Ayn Arab]. She tells Rozana: "I do not know how I will spend my time here. I am not happy, and the tent in which we is too small and narrow. I really want to go back and play with my friends in the vicinity of our home."

As for Nairuz, who fled with eight members of her family, she believes that children and women are those most affected by this situation.

She adds: "There is a great shortage in many materials, especially for children... Even the toilets are not enough and we are sometimes unable to access them, because of overcrowding. We know that tough days are ahead of us with the advent of winter."

The Government Oversees One out of Five Camps

In Suruj, four camps are under the responsibility of the municipality, in which circa 8,900 refugees from  Kobanî [Ayn Arab] have been placed. These are blocks of hastily built tents, with a population of mostly women, children and the elderly. The back of each tent is covered with cloth, which will clearly not withstand the rain or the harsh winter.

The infrastructure of the camps is clearely lacking, and the low level of hygiene has led to the spread of diseases such as rashes and skin infections among the refugees. And while the Suruj municipality offers potable water, electricity is conspicuously absent.

The AFAD camp, near those four camps, housing circa five thousand refugees, is the only one who is supervised and supported by the Turkish government. The government is currently building another camp, to be the largest in the region, which will comprise 600 tents and accommodate 5 thousand people.

Low Medical Service Levels

Sabri, The Arine Mirkhan camp official in Suruj, complains that the number of refugees exceeds capacity. There only is one medical point with only two doctors, while almost the absolute majority of camp residents are children, women, and the elderly.

He explains: "The medical point is always crowded. There are some medicines which we urgently need. We have a camp of 217 tents, and the estimated number of refugee residents is circa 2,500 people, mostly children, of whom 500 are infants in need of care. One newborn child died after four days of his birth, as a result of the cold and the lack of proper health care."

Relief Work in the Camps

Ismail, the General Supervisor of the four camps in Suruj, explains that relief work is extremely difficult due to the absence of adequate support. He expresses his fear of the spread of disease with the onset of winter; especially since there are those among the displaced who did not get a tent to house his family and himself, because of a shortage of tents.

He adds: "All the staff working in the municipality and the main warehouse for relief in the city of Suruj, are volunteers who receive no financial remuneration or allowance for their activities."

Ihsan, a sculptor and painter, works as a volunteer in the relief effort. He left his Turkish hometown of Amed and his family and decided to stay in Suruj to provide assistance to refugees. he confirms that he likes his work in the transport of relief materials from one place to another, despite the great difficulty and pressure it causes.

The young man says that the refugees have huge needs. There is no milk for children and not enough food, and there is a shortage of blankets and clothes. He explains that the estimated number of refugees is circa 50 thousand people, in the city of Suruj and its surrounding villages alone.

The 18-year old Diana, hailing from the city of Kobanî [Ayn arab], is deeply involved alongisde Ihsan in the relief work, had left her hometown to escape ISIS, fearing their penchant to arrest or abduct women.

This young woman has deidcated herself to help her townspeople. She insists on writing lists detailing the needs of the relief warehouse in Suruj, in her own handwriting, although she does not really know how to write.