- Title: Refugees flee camp as Turkish operation presses on
- Date: 16th October 2019
- Summary: NEAR RAS AL AIN, SYRIA (OCTOBER 16, 2019) (REUTERS) DRIVING SHOT SHOWING THE MABROUKA REFUGEE CAMP NEAR RAS AL AIN VARIOUS OF A DIRT ROAD IN THE CAMP LAUNDRY HANGING BETWEEN THE TENTS WOMEN, CHILDREN SEEN BETWEEN THE TENTS MORE OF LAUNDRY LINE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED SYRIAN MAN, ABU AYOUB, SAYING: "There are 14 families left here, around 83 people." VARIOUS OF A WHITE FLAG ERECTED IN THE CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED SYRIAN MAN, ABU AYOUB, SAYING: "We are helpless here, our situation is as you see, there's nothing." TENTS IN THE CAMP WOMEN SITTING ON THE GROUND WOMAN WASHING CLOTHES IN A BASIN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED SYRIAN WOMAN, SAYING: "There are two pregnant women, we need things, how will we get anything? And winter is upon us. I have nine children, where can I take them?" TENTS, TRAILERS MAN CALLING TO PRAYER VARIOUS OF ITEMS INSIDE A TENT VARIOUS OF A WOMAN PREPARING FOOD VARIOUS OF CHILDREN INSIDE A TENT VARIOUS OF BAGS, COOKING UTENSILS IN A TENT VARIOUS OF CHILDREN IN THE CAMP VARIOUS OF TENTS
- Embargoed: 30th October 2019 19:20
- Keywords: displaced families Syrian crisis city of Ras Al Ain Turkish campaign targeting the country’s northeast Mabrouka camp
- Location: NEAR RAS AL AIN, SYRIA
- City: NEAR RAS AL AIN, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001B1CM7NR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Only a few dozen displaced families remain at a Syrian refugee camp that once housed thousands near the city of Ras Al Ain, after many fled the ongoing Turkish campaign targeting the country's northeast.
The families, most of whom are already displaced from the city of Deir Al Zor, left their makeshift home at the Mabrouka camp and left the area which has been a recipient of heavy bombardment on the hands of Turkish artillery.
Turkey launched a cross-border operation against the YPG militia in northeastern Syria last week, after U.S. President Donald Trump decided to withdraw forces from two posts in the area in a move that drew strong international criticism.
The offensive, dubbed Peace Spring, has spawned a humanitarian crisis, with 160,000 civilians taking flight, a security alert over thousands of Islamic State fighters abandoned in Kurdish jails, and a political maelstrom at home for Trump, accused by congressional leaders, including fellow Republicans, of betraying loyal U.S. allies, the Kurds.
Much of the fighting so far has taken place around two border cities, Ras al Ain and Tel Abyad. A Reuters cameraman in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar reported the sound of heavy gunfire just across the frontier in Ras al Ain on Wednesday (October 16), a town which Turkey's defence ministry had earlier said its forces control.
The families that remain at the Mabrouka camp, located 43 km from Ras Al Ain, say they are left with no aid or support, and are unsure how they will survive the harsh winter.
(Production: Aboud Hamam, Jehad Abu Shalbak, Bushra Shakhshir) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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