Syriac Cross in Hasakah finishes distributing food baskets to displaced people of Rish Ayno (Ras al-Ayn)

HASAKAH, Syria — The Syriac Cross Organization for Relief and Development continues its relief and humanitarian projects in light of the harsh economic conditions in North and East Syria.

Recently, the Syriac Cross team in Hasakah finished distributing food baskets to the displaced people from Rish Ayno (Ras al-Ayn) and its countryside currently residing in Kababa and Mahaba neighborhoods in Hasakah.

The baskets included basic foodstuffs — which have become expensive after the collapse of the Syrian Pound — and the forcibly displaced are unable to secure them.

Background

In October 2019, Turkey and its proxies in the SNA, a coalition of militias, several of them with extremist ideologies, formed and funded by Turkey, invaded the cities of Rish Ayno (Ras al-Ayn) and Tel Abyad in North and East Syria, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Since the invasion, dozens of Turkish military bases have been established in those areas. The bases are guarded by the SNA who are equipped with armored vehicles and heavy weapons. Additionally, a large number of Turkish commandos are reportedly stationed in the region.

Demographic change and the Turkification of the area continue, with residents being forced to learn the Turkish language, the names of public facilities being replaced with Turkish ones and the hoisting of the Turkish flag over them.

Other human rights abuses continue as well. Turkish-backed factions continue to burn agricultural crops, kidnap civilians for ransom, extort business and families for large sums of money, and engage in torture, murder, and sexual assault.

In September 2020, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria released a 25-page report calling on Turkey to put an end to wide-spread war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by its proxy forces, the Syrian National Army (SNA), in the areas under its occupation.

According to the report, there is significant evidence that the Turkish-backed SNA has committed, and continue to commit torture, murder, displacement, rape, and the looting of property.