World Water Week Forum in Hasakah, North and East Syria, warns of looming humanitarian catastrophe

HASAKAH, North and East Syria — Marking World Water Week, local authorities, experts, and activists gathered in Hasakah to sound the alarm over a worsening water crisis that threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands. Organized by the Union of Municipalities of North and East Syria under the banner Water in North and East Syria: Between Reality and Challenges, the forum highlighted a crisis fueled by both climate change and Turkish policies accused of cutting off vital river flows.

Participants included representatives of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the Region of North and East Syria (DAARNES) in Gozarto (Jazira) Canton, alongside civil activists, agricultural engineers, environmental organizations, and co-chairs of the water institutions in Euphrates and Kobani. Across five sessions, discussions centered on the consequences of drought for farming, livestock, and energy production, as well as its disproportionate impact on women, who shoulder much of the burden of securing drinking water.

Berivan Silo, Co-Chair of the Jazira Water Department in DAARNES, told Suroyo TV that rural women are the most affected. “Their suffering is doubled,” she said. “Women are forced to find water by any means, usually in harsh conditions that put both them and their children at risk.”

Meanwhile, Ziyour Sheikho, director of the Green Braids Association, stressed that Hasakah today is “thirsting at the heart of its own sources,” noting that more than 800,000 people lack safe drinking water. He described the situation as “a clear message to the international community about a silent humanitarian catastrophe.”

Agricultural engineer and civil activist Nalin Asaad argued that the problem is no longer only local. “Water scarcity has become a global crisis, but in our region it takes on a political dimension that cannot be overcome without international intervention. What is needed are practical solutions, and strong advocacy to secure people’s right to water.”

The forum concluded with several recommendations, including the creation of a unified regional water strategy, documenting violations of water being used as a weapon of war for submission to international bodies, shifting toward rain-fed agriculture, protecting waterways from industrial and agricultural pollution, and expanding public awareness campaigns.

The most urgent recommendation came in the form of an appeal to the international community to intervene and stop what participants described as “the use of water as a political weapon” threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians in North and East Syria.