Though hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled the city of Kobane over the past months, some of them insist on making the dangerous journey home to retrieve what was left behind.
Text and photos: Faiz Abu-Rmeleh / Activestills.org
Hundreds of thousands of Kurdish and Syrian refugees have fled the city of Kobane in northern Syria over the past months due to attacks on the city by Islamic State forces. Approximately 40,000 residents have fled the city, around half of them crossing the border into the Turkish border town Suruc, where they currently live in refugee camps. Turkish authorities and citizens, along with Kurdish aid organizations, are trying to handle the growing pressure on the infrastructure. Supplies in the camps are in low supply, and many are living in close quarters.
Many of the refugees are afraid to give their full name, since many still have relatives in Kobane. “We need help from the United Nations and the West,” said one refugee. The refugees claim that U.S. airstrikes have helped ward off the Islamic State, yet Kurdish forces are still in need of much more than ammunition to prevent the militants from taking over the city.
Refugees return to the border area that overlooks the homes they left behind on a daily basis. Some of them are even able to cross the border and return to Kobane in order to retrieve the property and clothing they had left behind. Meanwhile, they look from afar, wondering when they will be able to return to their homes.
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