SÎLVA EL-ÎBRAHÎM

Manbij - Women living in the refugee camps in Manbij, the city of NE Syria, have been struggling with difficult living conditions due to tents that don’t protect them both in summer and winter. The displaced people have to live in difficult conditions as NGOs and human rights organizations cannot fulfill their duties. The citizens living in the El-Şerqî refugee camp located in the Resm El-Exder village of Manbij are the people, who were forcibly displaced from rural areas in the east of Aleppo, such as Mesken and Dêr El-Hafer. They have been struggling to survive under difficult conditions.

They often go hungry

50-year-old Naima Ebdulrezaq, the mother of five, was forcibly displaced from Mesken. She hangs several clothes outside of her tent and tries to make a living by selling them. She told us that they first went to Tebqayî from Raqqa and then they settled in the refugee camp after the liberation of Manbij. “Before the war broke out, we didn’t have to struggle to earn a living. We were farmers and had a peaceful life. But since the war broke out, we have been struggling to earn a living,” Naima Ebdulrezaq said, “One of my daughters is mentally handicapped. For this reason, I sell clothes to earn a living for my family. I have sold clothes for four years. When I run out of money, I try to borrow money. We often go hungry due to the high price of bread. Human rights organizations don’t help us. I couldn’t buy eid clothes for my children.”

Women shoulder the financial burden

35-year-old Zohur Receb, the mother of eight, was also forcibly displaced from Mesken. They were also farmers in Mesken. “In 2017, we were forcibly displaced from Mesken. I began to sell spices in a corner because my husband is sick. My sons cannot go to school because they have to work in the city. Most of the women living in the camp have to earn a living for their family,” she said, adding that she never forgets how her house was destroyed in a bombardment.