Ashti 189: Behind this acronym is yet another refugee camp in Kurdistan. Here, located in the city district Ankawa in Hawler(Erbil), roughly 500 Assyrian Christians - who had to flee from the advance of ISIS - are living in containers. Even if the camp seems to be one of the better ones, Walid explains the problems they have: We had food promised to us but since we arrived we have had to buy the food ourselves since far too little is delivered. Also we live in total darkness as soon as the sun sets, as we do not have any electricity. And all the Christian Aid Organizations who visited us promised a lot - but nothing ever happened. In a dark ironic twist the food aid which arrives at the camp reads fast-breaking (in Arabic for Ramadan) on the boxes. Many of the Christians who live in Ashti 189 have lost their faith in their Christian brothers and sisters in the West as well as in aid organizations and journalists. And as Bestun Khald, head of the Kurdish Student Union in Ankawa points out, the central government in Baghdad bears a similar responsibility: We do not have the means to raise the money on our own for all these refugees. The areas where they fled from got paid by the Baghdad Administration, as it was in their area of rule. So the government in Baghdad should funnel this money now to the KRG, as their citizens are living here as refugees. But they do not raise a finger for them. © Photo & Text Benjamin Hiller © Sound Ana Monte Please listen with headphones for full impression of the atmosphere inside the camp.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 18:12:59 +0000
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