250 displaced families live in tragic situation in Ajyal camp in Idlib countryside in the light of absence of services and difficult living conditions
Hazzano in the northern countryside of Idlib is one of the most towns that receive displaced people, where many camps are scattered around it and houses the displaced people from several villages and towns of the southern and western countryside of Idlib, the northern and western countryside of Hama, some of them were built more than five years ago, others were recently built after the large displacement, which is considered the largest since the beginning of the Syrian events.
The camps on the outskirts of Hazzano town in the northern Idlib countryside are witnessing harsh conditions, especially after the beginning of winter and heavy rainfall over the villages and towns of the Syrian north. Ajyal camp is one of these random camps on the outskirts of Hazzano, and since its establishment nearly 2 years ago it has suffered from very difficult living conditions, where tens of families have arrived to it recently which doubled the number of displaced people and in turn doubled the worsening of their living conditions as well.
In his testimony to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, one of the camp’s supervisors spoke about the suffering of the camp in light of this winter, saying: “Ajyal camp is located on the southern outskirts of Hazzano town in the northern countryside of Idlib, it was built on the 12th of December 2017, nearly 2 years ago, 250 families live in it and most of them have been displaced from areas at the southern countryside of Idlib, after the recent escalation of the regime forces and the militiamen loyal to them, which included heavy aerial and ground shelling targeted most villages and towns of the southern countryside of Idlib, the northern and western countryside of Hama. When the camp was built, about 160 families lived there, and 90 families headed towards it after the recent escalations.”
He added: “the camp suffers from a great worsening in living and service conditions, where it is built on an agricultural land that is not prepared with the slightest equipment to prevent the drownings of the camp, the ground of the camp is now very muddy, it was flooded and all families suffered from the poor conditions after the camp was flooded with rainwater, where the water entered most of the tents, washed them away, and destroyed their furniture, and the families lived in a tragic situation as a result of this flood, after they got out of the tents attempting to repair what could be repaired. The camp is generally is now isolated from its surroundings due to the heavy rain, and the water reached more than 15 cm in the camp, the camp lacks toilets and a good road to get out of it, and also it needs its tents to be replaced ASAP and the water which hinders the displaced people’s movement to be emptied of it, providing families with heating materials, potable water, furniture, blankets, and winter dresses. since it was established, the camp has not been supported by any humanitarian organization, despite our many appeals to look into the situation of the families, we call for the last time to avoid more losses and avoid drowning again, we call for the need to provide the camp and families in it with everything they need, and prevent more suffering from happening as well as the worsening of the tragedy.”
In his testimony to the Syrian Observatory, one of the displaced people also spoke about his living situation in Ajyal camp, he said: “I also moved with my family and several relatives to Hazzano area north of Idlib, after the regime forces took control of vast areas of the eastern countryside of Idlib and the eastern countryside of Hama in late 2017, we built the camp with simple and modest possibilities, without being looked at by the humanitarian organizations that put themselves on silent mode back then. We live in extreme poverty after we got out without getting anything of our property out with us, the camp was greatly marginalized and was not approached by any organization, I live with my family of four children, my wife, and mother in one very a worn out tent, and with the arrival of tens of families to the camp recently, the suffering worsened and multiplied, and so far, we have not seen any kind of assistance. On Tuesday, the 10th of December 2019, the camp’s tents were flooded, and all its families faced harsh conditions for several hours, we call on all humanitarian organizations operating in the Syrian north to go to the camp and see its situation and provide the necessary support to the families living there.”