A few days ago, the humanitarian convoy “BiH for the people of Syria” arrived in Reyhanli, a small town in southeastern Turkey through which passed millions of Syrians. This is the assistance gathered in the action that was organized by the Mufti Units of Sarajevo and Gorazde in co-operation with the International Solidarity Forum “Emmaus”.
Fifteen trucks with 350 tons of food are located in the logistics center of Turkish IHH in Reyhanli, in the region of Hatay, on the border between Turkey and Syria, from where it was distributed to refugee camps on both sides of the Turkish-Syrian border. Although the situation in refugee camps is still difficult and complex, the organizers of this activity noted that their stay there astonished them in many ways.
“The city has almost 70,000 residents, and the number of Syrian refugees is more than 120,000. The residents of this city opened their doors to Syrian refugees, they gave them their homes, garages, courtyards, and there is almost no facility that was not put on disposal. Most of the residents of Reyhanli consider refugees as their guests and they provide them with hospitality and any kind of help needed. Non-governmental organizations, as well as state institutions, are investing the maximum effort to provide them food, clothes, blankets and similar, and more than 500,000 refugees are accommodated in refugee camps near this town every day. If we consider that each person needs at least bread on a daily basis, it is necessary to provide around 500,000 TRY, which would be a huge burden for any country,” said Edina Subasic, from the International Solidarity Forum “Emmaus”.
She also noted that Turkey put hospitals on a disposal to refugees, where the wounded and the sick ones can obtain healthcare services free of charge.
“They opened special schools for the children to continue their education, and classes are conducted in the Arabic language. That really fascinated me with the Turkish people. However, although Turkey is trying to provide maximum help to refugees, it is not able to provide the best conditions for everyone so it is a very difficult situation in the tent refugee camps. It is very hot below the nylon during the summer, and it is very cold during the winter. Around 6-8 family members on average are staying in these tents, they have only blankets on the floors and some of them have matrasses. Maintaining basic hygiene, using the toilet, and the sewage is problematic as well,” stated Edina.
(Source: E. A./Klix.ba)
