By Navonel Glick | Program Director
04/02/2015
IRAQ MISSION 2 – PRESS RELEASE
Dohuk, Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI) -- As the day begins to dispel the chill of the night, Shehab, 37, from Sinjar, joins the growing line of refugees and displaced people - excited at the prospect of finally getting some supplies to brave the bitter cold and relentless winter winds of the camp. The trucks finally arrive, and IsraAID staff begin to unload the more than 3,000 winter items for this distribution, the second of what will hopefully be many more in the coming months.
Shehab and his family are among the more than 18,000 Yazidis now living in this camp in northern Iraq, after fleeing the horrors of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). "When Daesh (ISIL) entered Sinjar we fled to mountains for 7 days and took refuge in a Yazidi temple. We then found our way to this camp. We have been here for 7 months. I am here with my wife and our two children – a boy 1.5 years old and a 4 month year old baby girl who was born in the camp. The life here is very hard; our children are traumatized by what they saw and experienced after Daesh (ISIL) attacked our home."
Since January 2014, more than 2.1 million people have been displaced by the military campaigns of the Islamic State, bringing the total of people needing humanitarian assistance to 5.2 million. The Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI) alone has welcomed more than 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, and is hard pressed to meet their enormous humanitarian needs - especially during the trying winter months, with temperatures routinely dropping below 0 degrees Celsius.
"Inside the camp it’s very cold and we really need warm blankets " says Naviah, also from Sinjar, like Shehab. "Kerosene heaters were distributed [but] many tents caught fire and people died as a result. We use one bathroom between 8 families - there are too many people and not enough room or facilities for everyone. There is no school for the younger children". Shehab adds "our main problem is carrying the water back to our tent – there is only one place in the camp to get water and it very far. We also need health training and facilities for our families. Many people have diseases and there is no medicine or doctors".
For the lucky thousands waiting in line, the situation is about to improve. After a first humanitarian distribution in mid-October, IsraAID came back to the KRI in order to continue assisting Iraqi IDPs in need, delivering more than 3,000 winter items, including mattresses and blankets. "I really appreciate all your help [...] especially with your distribution of warm blankets for the winter" says Naviah, as she returns home with her hands full.
In the coming months, IsraAID hopes to scale up its operations in the KRI, expanding activities to include education projects to bring stability and safety to a population scarred by months of violence and chaos. For Shehab, the future must be better; "before ISIS attacked our home we were living safely and completely free to go about our lives. My hope for the future is to return to my home and to live freely without fear. I hope for my children to be able to sleep without fear."
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