Civilians living in camps in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province are struggling to make ends meet during the month of Ramadan.
Ahmad Abu Omar, who lives in the Qafar Arouq Camp in Idlib, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Thursday that he is unable to buy basic necessities for his family. Omar, who fled Hama four years ago said that they are in need of everything.
"We are unable to buy even a kilo of potatoes, let alone sunflower oil. We cook without oil. We go to the doctor but we cannot afford medicine from the pharmacy," he said.
Noting that he is unemployed, Omar said some months he does not even have a lira in his pocket.
Meanwhile, Om Ahmad, who was also displaced, said they try to survive using the herbs they collect from the mountains and that they have no food to eat in their tents.
Noting that living conditions in the camps are dire, Mahir Muhammad said there is a huge difference between Ramadan in camps and Ramadan in their village in the past.
"We do not feel like it’s Ramadan. I cannot buy anything that can make my children happy," he said, adding that people living in camps are in an extremely difficult financial situation.
"Nobody helps our camp. We want to buy clothes for our children for Ramadan but we cannot afford it," he said.
The Idlib region, where the 2.8 million displaced persons live, is the last Syrian enclave to oppose the regime in Damascus. Humanitarian aid reaches them mainly through the Turkey-Syria border under special U.N. authorization free from interference from Damascus, which expires in July.
Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia in March 2020. However, the Syrian regime has consistently violated the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.
Since April 2018, attacks on Idlib, the last opposition stronghold, have dramatically intensified, causing new waves of refugees to flow toward the Turkish border and putting the country – which already hosts 3.7 million Syrian refugees – in a difficult position.