As you know, there has been war in Syria for over 8 years and millions of people have spread from Syria to the world. Most of them, almost 4 million, are in Turkey. Although Turkey applied “open door” policy, there are people who did not want to leave their own land. Hence, millions of people stayed in Syria despite the very tough conditions. Unfortunately, I have to say there has been a humanitarian plight because of the ongoing Syrian war.
Unlimited Festival is organized by International Refugee Rights Association (UMHD) for 3 years. This year the organization was made in September, in Azaz, Syria. The purpose of the event was to visit the refugee camps, to go to schools for festival and to distribute stationary boxes. With this mission, we, as the EpicMigrations team, went to Syria and here we want to share all our opinions about what we have seen there.
At the first glance, you can think that “Why did you go there for festival when there has been war?” The answer is simple: We just wanted to do something for children to have a little piece of happy memories despite the existence of darkness of war. For this reason, the team of UMHD decided to do a festival and to distribute stationary boxes there for the third time.
In September, UMHD started a call with #bikutugelecek (#oneboxoffuture) hashtag and thousands of people made donation. For 7 days we handed out over 5 thousand boxes and we went there carrying our hearts filled with gratitude, joy, love along with the boxes. In the festival, we distributed over 10 thousand stationary boxes and spend moments full of joy with children. We laughed and we cried together.
I feel sorry for what I am going to write. Previously there was 30.000 people living in Azaz, now it has reached 400.000. Yes, there are container houses but just for 100.000. Most people are living in tents or under the trees. Most children are sick. There is no flour, no bread, no cleaning materials. There used to be ISIS, PYD and regime soldiers, but now this area is safe, thanks to Turkish forces. However, they need support services. Still, there is a humanitarian plight.
Our final message is: “Please hear their voice!”
