SORGUL ŞÊXO

Hesekê- Thousands of people were forcibly displaced due to the offensive of Turkey into north-eastern Syria in October 2019. A ceasefire was declared by Russia, the USA, and Turkey regarding attacks on civilians. Despite the ceasefire, the attacks on civilians continued while Russia and the USA kept silent against the attacks. Kafiya Ehmed, who was forcibly displaced from the village of Şêx Eli with her seven children due to attacks on their village, has lived in a Christian cemetery located in the village of Til Nesri. “Who would dare to live among the dead? But we live,” she told JINHA.

They live among the dead

“We had to leave our village due to the attacks on our village. Actually, our village was on the firing line. We lived in many villages but we settled in the village of Til Nesri at the end. We spent our lives building our house in our village but we had to leave our house due to the attacks of Turkey and Turkish-backed factions. Now, I live in a Christian cemetery with my seven children. We live in very difficult conditions. We had to remove the door of the cemetery. We set up a tent in the cemetery. When it rains and the wind blows, our tent collapses,” she said.

My children have nightmares

“How the life of people living among the dead can be?” Kafiya Ehmed asked and added, “Not only I but also my children have nightmares. We have very scary dreams. We are scared because we live among the dead. We had four sheep but they died due to cold weather. This year is very cold and we cannot warm the tent up.” Kafiya Ehmed doesn’t want any help but returns to her village. “We want to live in our village. We want to live in our house even if we are starved. In the village, people used to support and help each other. We had good neighbors. But here, we are like strangers and live among the dead. We only see the dead.”