ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) says more than 138,000 people displaced from the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh in northern Aleppo have been displaced to Afrin, where the foundation has begun providing urgent humanitarian assistance.
Rawaj Haji, a member of the BCF administrative board, told Rudaw on Friday that the foundation has activated large-scale relief efforts in the area. “Our office in Afrin has launched two major projects within Afrin to assist those in the area who are in need of urgent aid,” Haji said.
He added that, based on official figures, tens of thousands of families have returned to the region.
“According to the governor of Aleppo, 27,000 families from those two Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo have returned to Afrin and its surrounding areas,” Haji stated.
Haji stressed that the vast majority of returnees are originally from Afrin.
“Ninty-five percent of those who returned are original inhabitants of Afrin - their homeland. Some have gone to stay with relatives, while those who do not have a place ready have been accommodated in two camps; one holds 70 families and the other 30 families. We are still receiving families now,” he said.
According to the BCF official, dozens of staff members have been mobilized to manage the influx.
“Fifty of our staff members have begun working across three activity zones to welcome those returning," Haji noted, adding that "they are being provided with water and basic necessities. Today, hot meals consisting of rice, chicken, and soup are being prepared for 3,000 people."
He also highlighted medical needs among the displaced.