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IRAQ / SYRIA BORDER CROSSING
STORY: IRAQ / SYRIA BORDER CROSSING
TRT: 3.22
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 15 JANUARY 2014, SIMELKA-PESHKHABOUR BORDER CROSSING, NORTHERN IRAQ
1. Wide shot, refugee barge crossing Tigris river
2. Med shot, UNHCR staff awaiting refugee arrivals
3. Wide shot, barge reaching shore
4. Various shots, refugees leaving the barge
5. Pan right, Syrian refugee, Um Muhammed
6. Various shots, close ups of children
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Um Muhammed, Syrian Refugee from Qamsheli:
“We were moving from one place to another inside Syria but we couldn’t find anywhere safe to stay, leaving us only this place to come to.”
8. Various shots, barge crossing
9. Wide shot, border police talking to refugees
10. Wide shot, refugees leaving the barge
11. Med shot, barge driver
12. Various shots, Syrian refugee, Adnan Ahmed being helped off the barge
13. Wide shot, UNHCR staff helping push refugees’ luggage
14. Wide shot, Adnan Ahmed arriving at registration area
15. Wide shot, refugee boys sitting next to his luggage
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Adnan Ali Ahmed, Syrian Refugee:
“We were scared, we locked our house, left all we have inside it and came here. We left everything there, we didn’t bring anything with us, we didn’t bring anything to keep us warm, not even clothes.”
17. Wide shot, refugees walking towards registration centre
18. Various shots, Hanifa Ibrahim being carried and talking to UN staff
19. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hanifa Ibrahim, Syrian Refugee:
“I told my son to runaway so they don’t kill him. He managed to escaped, I stayed with the rest of the family, they started beating me as soon as they entered, even though one of them was saying not to hit women.”
20. Wide shot, registration queue
21. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hanifa Ibrahim, Syrian Refugee:
“My brother in law came into the house, they pointed the rifle at him, I grabbed the rifle and begged the gunman not to shoot. He killed him and shot me in both legs and left.”
22. Med shot, Hanifa relative crying as he arrives to pick her up
23. Close up, Hanifa’s relative comforting her as she cries
24. Wide shot, refugees waiting on the Syrian side of the river
25. Wide shot, water hitting the shores
The Tigris River, once a symbol of life and prosperity, is now an inconvenient last hurdle for the estimated 300 refugees that cross its waters every day on the long journey to escape war and death in Syria.
Leaving their homes behind, they come seeking shelter.
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq is among areas in the region currently seeing arrivals of Syrians. Border crossing points there from Syria were all but closed from mid-September until the start of January, when the Peshkabour crossing was reopened.
And war doesn't discriminate. Old, young, women and newly born, are all passengers on this difficult journey.
For some it has taken days to reach these shores.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Um Muhammed, Syrian Refugee from Qamsheli:
“We were moving from one place to another inside Syria but we couldn’t find anywhere safe to stay, leaving us only this place to come to.”
Shortly after one boat arrives, another follows. In the last year Northern Iraq has seen a heavy influx of refugees, over 200 thousand.
Some stay with relatives, others in refugee camps, seven have been set up so far.
Adnan Ahmed, is 55, he is half paralysed and in desperate need of medical attention.
He leaves behind 5 daughters and all his belongings.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Adnan Ali Ahmed, Syrian Refugee:
“We were scared, we locked our house, left all we have inside it and came here. We left everything there, we didn’t bring anything with us, we didn’t bring anything to keep us warm, not even clothes.”
Each boat is burdened with heart breaking stories.
Arriving on the last boat is Hanifa Ibrahim, mother of six from a village on the outskirts of Qameshli.
Hanifa and her family never wanted to leave.
They were one of only five families left in a deserted village on the frontline of the bloody conflict.
One day last week, that changed, when armed gunmen stormed their house.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hanifa Ibrahim, Syrian Refugee:
“I told my son to runaway so they don’t kill him. He managed to escaped, I stayed with the rest of the family, they started beating me as soon as they entered, even though one of them was saying not to hit women.”
The three hour stand-off ended in tragedy.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hanifa Ibrahim, Syrian Refugee:
“My brother in law came into the house, they pointed the rifle at him, I grabbed the rifle and begged the gunman not to shoot. He killed him and shot me in both legs and left.”
Hanifa is then reunited with Hikmat, the son of her brother in law. He lives in Iraq.
The refugee’s emotional journey ends with relief to be on safe shores, something those left on the other side of the water are yet to feel.
Since then some 5,000 people have crossed, and several hundred now arrive every afternoon. Of these only around 900 have registered with UNHCR. These people are transferred to a reception centre where they are given basic assistance before being moved to the Gawilan refugee camp in transport provided by IOM. Other recent arrivals have arranged their own transportation and are apparently going to Erbil and Suleiymania to join families, while some proceed to Zakho and Dohuk.
Authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have told us that they are adopting a flexible approach to the arrivals and those Syrians who do not want to stay as refugees can remain for up to seven days or approach the local authorities to legalize longer-term stay. Only 30 per cent of the Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq stay in camps, while the rest live in host communities. Currently Iraq hosts some 250,000 Syrians, of whom some 212,000 are registered as refugees.
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