A delegation made up of members of the Parliament of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council, and civil society organizations Òmnium Cultural and Casa Terra, visited northeastern Syria last week.
The delegation called on several refugee camps in the Al-Hasakah region and held meetings with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in order to establish cooperative relations between the two regions concerning human rights – especially regarding safe haven – technical cooperation for rebuilding infrastructure damaged in the war, and mutual support in the fight for women’s rights.
Among the refugee camps the Catalan delegation visited were Washukanni (15,000 refugees and internally displaced persons) and Al-Hawl (70,000 persons). In the latter, the group observed the complicated conditions in which thousands of people live and the difficulties for the management by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. In the words of the Member of the Catalan Parliament (MCP) Ruben Wagensberg, “In addition to maintaining areas such as Serê Kaniyê or Afrin under occupation, Turkey carries out daily attacks on other regions in northeastern Syria, it has long restricted flow of the Euphrates River, and has blocked water from the Alluk pumping station, interrupting the supply to the Al-Hasakah region affecting hundreds of thousands of people, including the refugees the region shelters. This aggravates the difficulties in managing Al-Hawl, where refugees live together with ISIS detainees, many of them foreigners, because of the inaction by the international community.”
The delegation likewise observed the situation in Qamişlo, Hesekê, Raqqa and Kobanî first-hand, where they held meetings with women’s organizations and visited services protecting their rights. They also visited war-stricken areas.
One of the cities visited was Kobanî, where Barcelona City Council have worked together with Catalan non-profit Centre Internacional Escarré–CIEMEN on a project to rebuild a park for the city council, through the city’s Reconstruction Committee. Barcelona Deputy Mayor Laura Pérez explained that “with this project, we have collaborated to improve the city’s public space, offering children’s play areas, while seeking to recover the historical memory of the struggle for democracy, women’s rights and cultural and religious diversity in the region.” The project also contributed with the supply of four different material components: trees, vegetation, paving, and playground equipment.
The Martyrs Families Association in Kobanî received the Catalan delegation before visiting the city cemetery in remembrance of the resistance of the city, and in memory of those who gave their lives fighting for the freedom of the Kurdish people. “In the autumn of 2014, everyone looked upon the resistance and sacrifice of the Kurdish people with admiration. Seven years later, the international community seems to prefer to turn a blind eye and protect its ally Erdoğan, who persecutes and oppresses the Kurdish movement in Turkey, invades Kurdish territory in northeastern Syria, and bombs Kurdish territory in Iraq” said the CUP-NCG MCP Eulàlia Reguant.
The delegation also included Montse Ortiz of non-profit Òmnium Cultural, and Alguer Miquel of international cooperation organization Casa Terra, and was accompanied by the documentary film-maker Joan Giralt.
