NINEVEH PLAIN: Baghdede Syriac youth collect winter clothing for al-Khazer refugee camp

BARTELLA / BAGHDEDE / ANKAWA – Syriac Youth from the Syriac city of Baghdede have started a campaign to collect winter clothing from Syriacs in Bartella and Baghdede in the Nineveh Plain and Ankawa, the Syriac majority suburb of Erbil, to hand them out to refugees in the al-Khazer refugee camp in the Nineveh Governate. The initiative for the campaign comes with Christmas approaching and aims to bring the different components in the Nineveh Plain closer together.

Earlier this month, the Syriac youth made an appeal on social and other media to collect the clothes in bags and boxes after which the initiators collected them. This week a truck load of clothes left Baghdede for al-Khazer refugee camp and handed out the clothing with a message of peace and solidarity.

The Syriac youth started the initiative after the Iraqi government had decided to close all refugee camps and return the refugees to their living areas and homes.

In an interview with Ezidi 24, a Syriac youth representative said, “This initiative is aimed to strengthen awareness, bring people to forgive each other, and to build bridges between the peoples of the Nineveh Governate, especially those persecuted and suppressed. At a time, we were also refugees and we know how difficult the situation is for the refugees, all exacerbated by the difficult times Iraq is going through. That is why we wanted to do something for the refugees.”

Refugees expressed their gratefulness for this message of love and brotherhood to Ezidi 24.

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The al-Khazer refugee camp, which hosts more than 6,000 refugees from all over the Nineveh Governate, was established after the massive displacement form the city of Mosul and environs after the military campaign started in 2016 to liberate Mosul from ISIS.

Article in Syriac