Free Burma Rangers call on NGOs to return to northeast Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Turkish Operation Peace Spring against Kurdish forces in northern Syria, launched on October 9, exposed the region to a humanitarian crisis. Foreign aid largely disappeared from the area, except for a few organizations that took the risk to help those in need. The Free Burma Rangers were one of them.
David Eubank, a former US Army Special Forces and Ranger officer, is the founder and director of the Free Burma Rangers (FBR) a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement which has provided aid in Burma, Syria, Sudan and Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.
Karen Eubank has been working with her husband for nearly 25 years, focusing primarily on their children's programming. The couple take their two daughters, Suzanne and Sahale, and son Peter - everywhere they go.
Rudaw’s Yasmine Mosimann sat down at our studios on Thursday with David, Karen, and Peter, who have just returned from Syria, to hear about what they observed during their month-long humanitarian tour.
"We are a very small NGO. But we try to be the eyes and the mouth for bigger groups, to say this is what's happening, these are the needs. So we went this time to give food, [blanket, and shelter] to some of the 200,000 people that are displaced. Some are in camps, some are living out in abandoned schools, in the fields with almost nothing," said David of the situation for IDPs in Rojava.
The humanitarian called for NGOs to return to the region, saying that the area is "relatively safe" despite the ongoing conflict and presence of the Islamic State (ISIS).
“The main obstacle is will…if we really care about people we have to put people first, not safety first,” he added.
David Eubank, a former US Army Special Forces and Ranger officer, is the founder and director of the Free Burma Rangers (FBR) a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement which has provided aid in Burma, Syria, Sudan and Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.
Karen Eubank has been working with her husband for nearly 25 years, focusing primarily on their children's programming. The couple take their two daughters, Suzanne and Sahale, and son Peter - everywhere they go.
Rudaw’s Yasmine Mosimann sat down at our studios on Thursday with David, Karen, and Peter, who have just returned from Syria, to hear about what they observed during their month-long humanitarian tour.
"We are a very small NGO. But we try to be the eyes and the mouth for bigger groups, to say this is what's happening, these are the needs. So we went this time to give food, [blanket, and shelter] to some of the 200,000 people that are displaced. Some are in camps, some are living out in abandoned schools, in the fields with almost nothing," said David of the situation for IDPs in Rojava.
The humanitarian called for NGOs to return to the region, saying that the area is "relatively safe" despite the ongoing conflict and presence of the Islamic State (ISIS).
“The main obstacle is will…if we really care about people we have to put people first, not safety first,” he added.