Syrian Kurdish refugee children sing the Kurdish national anthem “Ey Raqib” at Domiz refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan
Syrian refugee camp Domiz in Iraqi Kurdistan
I visited Domiz, a Syrian refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan (see Al Jazeera English story on the camp here). Almost all the refugees are Syrian Kurds, fleeing intensifying violence in the contested Kurdish areas in Syria. The camp, built a year ago, was designed to hold 22,000 refugees, but currently holds 43,000 (according to UNHCR), with 600-800 new arrivals every day. While refugees are free to move in and out of the camp as they please (unlike Zaatari camp in Jordan, which feels more like a prison), those who can’t find a place to stay outside the camp often have to share a single tent with multiple families.
Syrian girl at school in Domiz refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan
Syrian refugees line up to collect water at Domiz Camp
Syrian girl waits outside the school fence in Domiz refugee camp
And here’s a rather shaky iphone vid I took of the schoolkids singing their morning round of the Kurdish national anthem “Ey Raqib” (see English translation of lyrics here).
