With the war in Syria, hundreds of thousands of people migrated to Northern and Eastern Syria from other areas in Syria and Iraq as they saw the region as a safe haven. Most of the migrants are still living in various towns in Northern and Eastern Syria, and the administration has set up camps in various provinces for the migrants.

There are tens of thousands of migrants in the Newroz Camp in the Derik province of Northern and Eastern Syria, the Hol Camp in Heseke, the Mebruka Camp in Serekaniye, the Ayn Isa Camp in Ayn Isa and the Iwa Camp in Deir ez-Zor. The Northern and Eastern Syrian administration serves these camps with their own resources, while tens of thousands more migrants live in the Berxwedan, Serdem and Afrin camps in Shehba in the aftermath of the Turkish state’s invasion attacks.

Western countries, the United Nations and international aid institutions have given billions of dollars to the Turkish state, which has threatened them with refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, and absolutely ignored the camps in Northern and Eastern Syria. Despite all calls made, there has been extremely limited aid arriving in camps in Northern and Eastern Syria. Most of the cost of running the camps has been handled by the Northern and Eastern Syrian administration.

12.500 MIGRANTS IN AYN ISA CAMP

With the onset of winter, life in camps has become more difficult. Ayn Isa, one of the biggest camps in Northern and Eastern Syria, opened its doors to the ANF. The camp was founded 2 years ago under the Raqqa Civilian Assembly and hosts 12.500 migrants today. Camp administrator Jalal Al-Ayaf said there are 1080 tents in the camp, and added that they only received very limited aid from the UN and most of the needs in the camp is provided by the Raqqa Civilian Assembly.

Ayaf said even the land the camp is set up on is private property and that they have to pay rent: “The big tent is ours, but the land we built the camp on is private property and we are renting. We pay a monthly rent of 100.000 Syrian Liras. We don’t have the right to do any works on the land, we can’t pour sand or build roads. We can’t do anything because it’s private property.”

MIGRANTS FROM VARIOUS REGIONS

Camp administrator Abdulnasir Hemê said the camp, having been active for 2 years, hosts 3.115 migrants from Raqqa, 8.073 from Deir ez-Zor, 1.056 from Aleppo, 48 from Idlib, 64 from Hama, 162 from Homs and 518 from Iraq, and that most of their needs are provided by the Raqqa Civil Assembly.

DEMANDING WORK OPPORTUNITIES

A young migrant named Ganus Mehmud El-Hesun has been in the camp with his family, and said there are several institutions in the camp trying to provide for their needs, but there are still problems, which need to be addressed by the camp administration. El-Hesun added that the issue of education should be resolved, and the migrants should be provided with opportunities to work, allowing people the tools to rebuild their lives.