Shahba- Hundreds of families had to leave Afrin after the Turkish state occupied the city. Displaced people living in Shahba Canton continue to resist the ongoing Turkish attacks and the embargo imposed by the Syrian Government on Shahba.

In Shahba, the displaced women of Afrin earn a living with their skills to resist the embargo.

 She recycles old clothes

85-year-old Ciner Şêxo, a resident of Berxwedan camp in Fafin district of Shahba Canton, learned how to sew from her mother. Now, she uses her sewing skills to recycle old clothes. She collects old clothes and then makes new clothes out of the old clothes. Another displaced woman of Afrin in the camp, 45-year-old Fatma Bekir earns a living for her family by working as an agricultural worker. “We used to have our own agricultural land in Afrin and worked with agricultural workers there. Now, we work as agricultural workers. We want to return to Afrin,” Fatma Bekir told us.

 70-year-old Fîdan Mihemed, one of the camp residents, used to make handicraft products to decorate her house and give them as presents to her friends. “I never thought I would earn a living by using these skills. The ongoing embargo has been raising the prices of products so I have to work and earn a living now,” she said.

Embargo has been imposed on Shahba for eight months

Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods have been suffering from an embargo imposed by the Syrian government for eight months. The Syrian government controls the entry of essential supplies, such as fuel, flour and humanitarian aid to these areas. Due to the embargo, the traders sell such supplies very expensively.