LİNA HATİP

Idlib- People living in Idlib have been subjected to many rights violations since the city was occupied by the Turkish state and its armed faction Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

In the city, a camp was built for widowed and divorced women. The widowed and divorced women, who could not find a job or became homeless, live in this camp. The camp is shown as a safe place for women, who need help; however, the reality is different. The women living in the camp face the risk of harassment and rape and they are oppressed.

As NuJINHA, we went to the camp to learn more about the living conditions of women. It was difficult to enter the camp.

‘They forcibly took my son’

While many women did not want to speak to us in fear of being expelled from the camp and subjected to violence, Reşîde Al-Keyalî, 33, accepted to speak to us. She is from the town of Xan Şêxûn but she settled in the camp with her five children after she lost her husband. “The walls of the camp are very high and its door is always closed. I feel like I am in prison,” said Reşîde Al-Keyalî, adding:

“I settled in the camp with my children because my financial situation was very bad. Since the camp is closed to men, my son was expelled from the camp when he turned 15. I miss my son. They forcibly took my son from me and handed him over to my husband’s parents, who do not help us. The camp administration decides who can enter the camp and who cannot. In the camp, women are subjected to verbal and physical harassment. I had to settle in the camp because I could not find a job. We are isolated from society here.”

‘I was verbally abused by the camp manager’

29-year-old Aliya El-Bekrî is another woman living in the camp. She was verbally abused by the camp manager. Although she wants to leave the camp, she has to stay in the camp because she has nowhere to live. “The manager asked me to go to his room to get the identity information of me and my three sons. He verbally abused me. I left the room immediately. I have been looking for alternatives to leave the camp. As widowed women, we are left without help.”

‘Women are forced into marriage’

In Idlib, the women, who lost their husbands, are forced into marriage by their families. 28-year-old Emel Al-Hemûd was forced into marriage after she lost her husband. “After my husband died, his family forced me to marry my husband's brother. My father accepted it. At the beginning of our marriage, he inflicted violence against my children and me. He also confiscated my gold jewelers and money. After I gave up all my rights, we got divorced.”