Camps (Part II) - Moqoble and the Syrian Kurds
Jun 23, 2009
A Brief History of the Syrian Kurds
The Syrian Kurds living at the Moqoble Refugee Camp are officially recognized by the UNHCR as stateless. They have no citizenship. No country. No home.
They are a group of Kurds that fled Syria in March of 2004, after riots broke out stemming from a football match resulting in the deaths of dozens of their friends and family. Prior to leaving, they were among the more than 200,000 Kurdish people officially recognized by the UNHCR as stateless living in Syria. The county had stripped the majority of Kurds of citizenship in 1962.
The Moqoble Refugee Camp was first established for arabs fleeing the Saddam regime, but in 2004 the camp was converted for Syrian Kurds. Since 2004, 44 families consisting of about 600 people call these winterized tents home.
Abdulaziz Muhammed Rasho
Abdullaziz is 53 years old and has been living at Moqoble since the second wave of refugees arrived in July of 2004. In the chaos and riots that ensued after the football match in Syria, Mr. Rasho and his wife were separated from their five children and forced to leave them behind. Here is his story of being forced out of Syria and life within the camp:
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