Lelun Afrin
The Fourth Division of the Syrian Army imposes a tight siege on the Shahba area by controlling the checkpoints on the road between the city of Aleppo and the Shahba area – the northern countryside of Aleppo, which is under the control of the Autonomous Administration, and is the only reliable road to deliver fuel, medical supplies, and the monthly relief materials provided for the people forcibly displaced from the Afrin region, who reside in camps and homes damaged by the bombing and earthquake. These barriers impose double taxes on various goods and merchandise, in order to allow them to enter the region.
With the advent of winter and the exhaustion of fuel allocations of heating materials and fuel, the people have suffered from a complete power outage since November 23, 2023, as they rely on generators that operate on diesel due to the unavailability of the public electricity.
“Maha Hajji/a pseudonym” says to “Lelun”, one of the forcibly displaced women who lives in the Shahba area:
“The electricity generators have stopped working, and we have been cut off from the outside world as mobile phones and the Internet have stopped, and here we are in the dark, fighting the cold by covering ourselves with a quilt.”
The lack of diesel fuel for transportation means led to a complete disruption of life and movement in the region, as Maha confirms that:
“All public transportation in the Shahba area has stopped, and most Autonomous Administration institutions have stopped working, as a result of the lack of diesel fuel for cars as well.”
The health sector is considered one of the sectors most affected by the siege imposed on the region in terms of shortages and/or loss of medicines, and the increase in their value, if any. According to what Mrs. Zainab Oso, who works in the health sector, confirmed:
“The health sector was not spared from this stifling siege, as the Avrin and Tal Rifaat hospitals went out of service fifteen days after the siege, except for the intensive care department. There is nothing more catastrophic than for the hospital to go out of service in light of this cold and disease, widespread in the region”.
As a result of the deterioration of the health sector due to the lack of medicines and the inability of hospitals to accommodate patients, as well as the region’s lack of specialized clinics, medical cases worsened, one of which resulted in the loss of her life of the three-year-old girl, “Sozdar Hassan,” from the village of Tranda, affiliated with the center of the Afrin region. She lives with her family in the camp, and her mother says in this regard:
“My child fell ill with a severe cold due to the lack of a heating source, and as a result we had to transfer her to Aleppo hospitals due to the Shahba hospitals’ inability to receive her. Her health condition worsened, according to what the doctors reported, and this led to her death.”
If the siege continues in this manner, this may lead to the creation of a major humanitarian catastrophe that will increase the suffering of the residents, as Maha Hajji adds:
“There is a fear by the people of the region that the bakeries will stop working and the bread will be cut off. This portends a humanitarian catastrophe that may cause a major famine. There is also a fear that the tankers will stop transporting drinking water to the people.”
Schools also suffer from a loss of heating fuel, as well as the cessation of student transportation, which hinders the progress of the educational process in the region. “Alia Youssef/ pseudonym,” a teacher in one of the schools in the area, says:
“Conditions are difficult in schools as well, as most of our students are busy with the cold. There is no heating fuel, and all schools are without heaters until now. Some institutions have stopped working, and we have closed schools for three days. Students’ families tell us that they do not intend to send their children to school if it continued like this.”
The people are suffering of finding an alternative to diesel for heating, as firewood is not available in the area, and if it is available, is at very high prices, so the people are unable to buy it, in addition to preventing the entry of gas into the area for years by security barriers. Alia explains:
“We installed a wood-burning stove in the house. We burn nylon, worn-out clothes, and garbage, due to the lack of firewood. Every morning, one of my neighbors collects trash from plastic bags, some firewood and cardboard to light the stove as a source of heating and cooking. Most families live by this way.”
The lack of diesel led to the paralysis of public life and the cessation of most activities, such as agriculture, excavations, maintenance work, and various crafts, as well as the cessation of transportation. In this regard, Mr. Masoud Taha/ a pseudonym, spoke to Lelun, a forcibly displaced citizen from Afrin who lives in a dilapidated house that had been subjected to airstrikes and later to an earthquake. He said:
“Job opportunities are almost non-existent, and the unemployment rate has increased, the people depend only on relief aid for their livelihood. The situation is very tragic, and living is difficult. I am unemployed, and sitting at home. I used to work sometimes in harvesting potatoes and doing freelance work, but now all opportunities have disappeared.”
Regarding the rise in the prices of materials and goods, especially medicines, which have doubled recently, Masoud says:
“The prices of medicines have increased exponentially, 100%. It is difficult to obtain infant formula, as it is almost non-existent, and the price of a bag of milk exceeds 100,000 Syrian pounds, there are many people who are unable to purchase it for their children.”
According to the intersection of testimonies of witnesses and sources that “Lelun” met until preparing this report, the price of a liter of free diesel on the black market ranges between 13 and 14 thousand Syrian pounds, so the cost of operating the heater in this case on a daily basis is 70 or 80 thousand Syrian pounds, and this is what it exceeds the financial capacity of the people.
Mr. Muhammad Sheikho, the co-chair of the local administration and municipalities in the Autonomous Administration of Afrin and Shahba canton, spoke, saying:
“Diesel oil has been prevented from entering the Shahba region by the checkpoints of the Syrian Army’s Fourth Division since October 20, 2023, as the residents of the Shahba region depend on electric generators to meet their daily electricity needs. On November 23, 2023, the stored quantity was exhausted of diesel fuel, and the generators went out of service.”
Regarding the current administrative distribution of the Shahba region, Mr. Muhammad Sheikho explained that:
“The Shahba region consists of five districts according to the administrative distribution carried out by the Autonomous Administration. They are: Ahdath, Fafin, Ahras, Tal Rifaat, and Sherawa. In addition to five camps inhabited by the forcibly displaced people of Afrin, which are: Sardam camp in the Ahdath district, Barkhudan camp in Fafin district, Shahba camp in Sherawa district, Al-Awda camp in Sherawa district, Afrin camp in Al-Ahdath district.”
It is worth noting that the majority of the people of Afrin live in the Shahba area – the northern countryside of Aleppo since their forced displacement after the Turkish “Olive Branch” operation in 2018, which led to Turkey and the Syrian armed factions taking control of the Afrin region.