{"id":278,"date":"2011-06-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/?p=278","title":{"rendered":"Reaching the Syrians trapped on ‘the other side’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nReaching
\nthe Syrians trapped on ‘the other side’<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nBy Neil Sammonds, Amnesty International’s Syria researcher.\n<\/p>\n

\nHaving been continually frustrated in my attempts to meet
\ndisplaced Syrians on both sides of the border with Turkey, I decided the only
\nway to find out about their situation was to somehow reach them myself.\n<\/p>\n

\nAlong with the 8,500 refugees staying in camps on the
\nTurkish side, to whom access is forbidden for Amnesty International, I was told
\nthere are thousands of Syrians camped just beyond the border living in
\ndesperate conditions. This is where I would attempt to go.\n<\/p>\n

\nI’ve seen countless Syrian men and boys scrambling down to
\n“the other side” of the border from my position in Guvecci village, Turkey.
\nThis time, I follow them.\n<\/p>\n

\nI loop an imposing Turkish security outpost a few hundred
\nmetres south of Guvecci and pursue, at a distance, some Syrian teenagers.\n<\/p>\n

\nThis involves climbing a hill, crossing a couple of fields
\nand dashing through bushes and woods, including a couple of sprints that would
\nhave been in clear view of anyone manning the outpost. Then, it’s all downhill.\n<\/p>\n

\nIt’s all Turkish territory and there are no signs to show I
\nam doing anything wrong, so I keep going until I come to a road crossing my
\npath.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe sprightly lads ahead jog along the road to a small break
\nin the bushes on the other side. A rusty gate lies on the floor. I follow,
\nstand beside the gate and survey the scene along the border.\n<\/p>\n

\nScores of tents are scattered along the edges of farmland
\nand woods. They stretch a mile or so further south; it’s said they continue for
\nmiles further north in a ribbon of land hugging the border.\n<\/p>\n

\nThere are vehicles, motorcycles and huddles of people
\nsitting under and around fruit trees. One woman is sitting on the earth,
\nslumped forward with her head in her hands.\n<\/p>\n

\nThey are grateful to the Turks across the border, who have
\nbeen smuggling them much-needed supplies.\n<\/p>\n

\n“We would all have died of hunger if it wasn’t for the
\npeople of Guvecci,” says Abu Ahmed, pointing to his family’s makeshift tent
\nmetres from the border. It’s obvious that there are no facilities anywhere: no
\nwater, electricity, toilet.\n<\/p>\n

\n“The Turkish people send down bread and medicine. And the
\nowner of this field is a good man who lets us stay,” says Abu Ahmed.\n<\/p>\n

\nHe introduces me to Abu Muhammad and Abu ‘Abdu – for
\nsecurity reasons all prefer not to give their full names. They are agricultural
\nworkers in their twenties from villages near the town of Jisr al-Shughur.\n<\/p>\n

\nThey, along with others who then approach me, repeat many of
\nthe stories I have heard in the past few days.\n<\/p>\n

\nThey tell me the water supply has been poisoned. And that
\nthe body of Basel al-Masri, a shopkeeper and enthusiastic participator in
\npeaceful protests in Jisr al-Shughur, was returned with three lethal bullets in
\nit. Snipers from the security forces fired at those returning from his funeral.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe camp-dwellers also say that that army tanks, based on
\nthe edge of Jisr al-Shughur, had shelled houses, while livestock was killed and
\ncrops burnt.\n<\/p>\n

\nAnother group of people tell me that 100 people from the
\nvillage of Freykah were taken away four days ago to a detention centre. No one
\nhas seen them since.\n<\/p>\n

\nWomen from the more distant town of Ma’aret al-Nu’man, two
\nholding babies, tell me of men who have disappeared. Another woman tells me
\nabout a young man called Isma’il, who was shot in the back and head during a
\nprotest in her village. Around 20 people from Jisr al-Shughur told me they had
\nheard about the sexual abuse of several girls by members of the security forces
\nor Shabiha (regime-backed militiamen), but didn’t want to mention the names of
\nthe families concerned.\n<\/p>\n

\nSuddenly, there is a commotion and people talk quickly among
\nthemselves. The Turkish officer considered the strictest has started his shift.
\nI should go. I scamper across the road, up and around the hillside and puff and
\nsweat my way back to Guvecci.\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nReaching
\nthe Syrians trapped on ‘the other side’<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nBy Neil Sammonds, Amnesty International’s Syria researcher.\n<\/p>\n

\nHaving been continually frustrated in my attempts to meet
\ndisplaced Syrians on both sides of the border with Turkey, I decided the only
\nway to find out about their situation was to somehow reach them myself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}