RÛBARÎN BEKIR

Shahba-Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon since September 23, killing about 3,000 people and displacing thousands. North and East Syria is one of the places hosting displaced people from Lebanon. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) makes great efforts to meet the needs of 19,754 people fleeing from Lebanon by setting up a crisis center.

 Shahba Canton, which opened its doors to the people of Afrin displaced by the Turkish attacks on Afrin in 2018, is now hosting displaced people from Lebanon. Despite the ongoing siege imposed by the Syrian government and Turkish attacks on the canton, the people of the canton keep being in solidarity with the people fleeing from Lebanon.

‘We went to Lebanon from Afrin’

 Oufa Seyfo is one of the women displaced multiple times. “We went to Lebanon when the Turkish state occupied Afrin because everyone remained silent against the crimes committed by the Turkish-backed factions in Afrin,” she told NuJINHA. “We lived in Lebanon for five years; however, Israeli warplanes began to bomb us. We fled Lebanon to Shahba controlled by the AANES because displaced people of Afrin take shelter here.” At the end of her speech, she called for the withdrawal of the Turkish state from the occupied areas so that civilians “will have a safe place.”

‘We could leave Lebanon thanks to the AANES’

Amina Abdo, who fled from Lebanon to Shahba to live with the displaced people of Afrin after living in Lebanon for two years, said, “We could leave Lebanon thanks to the AANES. The AANES has made great efforts to provide us with what we need. Now, I live in the Serdem camp with my family.”

 ‘We work to alleviate the suffering of our people’

‘Israeli attacks on Lebanon double the suffering of our people,” said Melek Al-Huseyin, Co-chair of the Executive Council in Afrin/Shahba Canton. “We work to alleviate the suffering of our people displaced from Lebanon. We will keep making efforts for our people fleeing from Lebanon to North and East Syria. The AANES has set up a crisis center to be in solidarity with the people fleeing from Lebanon. If they have relatives, we get in contact with them to provide them a safe place.”

Melek Al- Huseyin also told us that a camp was being built in Shahba for the people fleeing from Lebanon. “Shahba currently hosts more than 180 families, about 637 people, fleeing from Lebanon. “We make great efforts to support them despite the ongoing siege imposed by the Syrian government and Turkish attacks on the canton.”