BAGHDAD,
November 9 (IslamOnline.net) - More than 300.000 people had to
evacuate Fallujah under the intensive US air raids that kept rocking
the bastion of resistance for long weeks and months, culminating in
the all-out onslaught that was unleashed Monday, November 9.
What
has become of those displaced civilians? Amid worrying silence from
the US-picked Iraqi interim government -- apparently more concerned
about crushing those who are still inside Fallujah -- their fate
remains catastrophic, to say the least.
Some
of the displaced resorted to their relatives in the capital Baghdad or
other neighboring cities. Others, however, inhabited medical centers,
uncompleted building structures, schools and mosques.
Aanah
city, adjacent to the west of Fallujah, was an important destination
for the displaced who sought the assistance of their relatives.
The
city of 50.000 population received tens of families, some of which
comprise more than 30 persons each, as big families is a sign of
tribal Fallujah.
Anwar
Al-Any, an inhabitant of Aanah, said that Radwan Al-Hassan's family
“has hosted three families escaping the US bombardment.”
“Interim
Negligence”
He
further pointed out that some of the displaced were students who had
to leave their schools in Fallujah and lost a complete academic year.
Thousands
of the evacuees suffer a variety of serious problems, including
insufficiency of medicine supplies, considering the huge numbers of
displaced pouring into the city. Winter adds up to the gravity of the
problem, especially that Aanah weather is very cold in, eyewitnesses
told IslamOnine.net.
Iraqi
sources, meanwhile, voiced their deep resentment of the Iraqi interim
government’s complete ignorance of the humanitarian problems of
those displaced.
Due
to their huge numbers, some displaced families find no shelter and
have no enough money to rent houses. Such families are forced to sleep
over in schools and leave them in the early morning before the start
of the school day, according to Iraqi witnesses.
Other
displaced people stay at government departments, including health
departments. Others take shelter in libraries.
Soaring
Prices
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One of the families that had to leave after the massive onslaught already began
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The
increasing number of displaced has pushed the prices of house rentals
to a great extent.
In
a telephone conversation with IslamOnline.net, Abu Said from Fallujah
said that his mother asked him to find a temporary residence place out
of Fallujah till the end of the current crisis. He discovered that
renting a flat costs a fortune.
“We
found a flat with enough rooms to the whole family but costs 500.000
Iraqi Dinars [equivalent to US $325] in addition a six-month advance
rental,” he added.
Abu
Said added that due to the soaring prices, “I preferred to stay at
home under the US random shelling.”
Apart
from the fighters, nobody stayed at Fallujah except those who could
not afford leaving, preferred to stay home, particularly that they
have no relatives outside their city.
Well-treated
In
Baghdad, several houses received some displaced families and started
to help them.
“Several
houses in the neighborhood have agreed to share accommodation of
displaced families of Fallujah among themselves. Our share of guests
amounted to seven families comprising 50 members,” Rami, an
inhabitant of Al-Khadra neighborhood in Baghdad, told IOL.
In
solidarity with the displaced, Baghdad mosques started calling upon
well-off Iraqis to contribute to support the stricken families of
Fallujah, providing clothes, covers, food supply and money.
“We
called upon the people through Al-Shahidain Mosque to help
crisis-stricken people of Fallujah during this holy month (Ramadan)
and managed to provide 150 families with money and foodstuffs in order
to assist the needy Muslims,” Ahmed Abdel-Aziz said.
“Yet,
the assistance and support of the people is not enough, as there is a
need for the interference of the government to provide hundred of
families that suffer very difficult humanitarian circumstances with
help,” he added.
Other
mosques undertook the same activities like Omar Al-Mukhtar and Khaled
bin Al-Waleed. Baghdad mosques have also been places where displaced
families can spend the night.
