Statement:
On August 9, 2024, a camp for displaced people from Afrin was targeted by Turkish occupation forces, which violates all principles and international laws that protect the rights of displaced persons. This is not the first time that camps for displaced people in the Shahba region of northern Aleppo have been targeted by Turkish occupation forces, as the vicinity of the Al-Awda camp in the Shiraawa district and the vicinity of the Barkhdan camp in the village of Al-Wahshiya, as well as the Sardam camp in the village of Tal Sussin, have previously been bombed.
The random Turkish bombardment continues across the geographical areas of Shahba almost daily, affecting forcibly displaced people from Afrin residing in Tal Rifaat and its villages, as well as the mentioned camps. This has resulted in numerous massacres against children, women, and civilians, who have no power but to seek a peaceful existence while hoping for their return to their villages and homes in the occupied Afrin region.
On August 9 of this month, the villages of Burj Qas, Mayasa, Suwankah, Baynah, the vicinity of the village of Al-Ziyara, the vicinity of Deir Jamal, and the vicinity of the Shahba camp near Kishtar, Tanb, in addition to the villages of Shiran (Shuraghah, Mar’anaz, Malakiyah, Al-‘Alqamiya, the vicinity of Tal Rifaat city, Menagh, Ain Daqna, Biluniya, and Tal Ajjar School) were targeted. The Shahba camp was hit by artillery shells, causing injuries to the minor girl “Lailaf Ali Bakr,” aged 15, from the village of Musikah in the Rajo district of Afrin, due to shrapnel in her shoulder, as well as material damage to the tents of the displaced. This camp houses more than 100 families of displaced people from Afrin and other Syrian areas.
All that happened and is happening is in full view of the world and the international community, constituting a blatant violation of the principles and rules of international law, specifically Article 51 of the Additional Protocol II, which states that civilians must not be the target of any attack, violence, or hostile acts. The Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, concluded on August 12, 1949, pertains to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts.
As a human rights organization concerned with human rights, we urge all human rights and humanitarian organizations, foremost the United Nations Security Council, to address these crimes and violations, to end the Turkish occupation, to withdraw its forces from all occupied Syrian areas, to deploy international peacekeeping forces in these areas, and to push for a comprehensive political solution to the Syrian crisis in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2254.
August 10, 2024
Human Rights Organization – Afrin, Syria
*The original text in Arabic has been translated by Advanced-translate.
منظمة: تركيا تستهدف مخيم لنازحين عفرين في منطقة الشهباء بريف حلب
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