On January 21, the Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) sent a huge amount of aid to Western Kurdistan (northern Syria) on the orders of President Masoud Barzani through the Semalka border crossing. The organization is working on the ground to provide aid to displaced people.

“Headed by BCF President Musa Ahmed, a group of 150 BCF employees went to Derik, Qamishli, Amuda, Girke Lege, and Hasakah to provide 67 tracks of humanitarian needs, 22 different items, and 710 tons of humanitarian support to Western Kurdistan,” BCF Board Member and Program Planning Manager Karzan Noori told Kurdistan Chronicle.

“As we are talking, distribution is ongoing and will continue in the coming days. Unfortunately, the situation is not very good.”

According to a report by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, approximately 20,000 people have been displaced in Hasakah Governorate, including 2,500 households in Qamishli, 600 in Derik, 400 in Hasakah city, and 102 in Amuda, with 109 collective centers recorded, although the situation remains fluid.

On January 24, a high-level delegation from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Syria, led by James Karanja, visited the BCF office in the city of Qamishli, where discussions focused on the humanitarian situation in the region and the difficult conditions faced by displaced people.

“We are collaborating with official authorities over there, and we have already notified and are in close coordination with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to prepare and distribute essentials among displaced peoples. The BCF will continue working for vulnerable people without any distinction, especially those who are fleeing from one area to another because of the conflict,” Noori said.

"No matter what happens, the BCF will remain with our people in Western Kurdistan. As BCF President Ahmed has already stated, the BCF is not owned by the people of Sulaymaniyah or Duhok – it belongs to the people of Qamishli, Derik, Hasakah, and Western Kurdistan as a whole. Therefore, we are ready to provide support wherever it is needed.

“At the same time, we are calling on the international community, donors, organizations, and philanthropists to step in and support this effort. The wave of displacement is immense, and the resources within Western Kurdistan alone are insufficient. We need everyone’s support. No matter where you are, if you feel the suffering of the people, your support is vital. By supporting the BCF, we can continue to assist those affected by the conflict, displaced, and in urgent need throughout Western Kurdistan and across Syria.”

“The safety and well-being of Kurds in Syria, whatever the different political views of various parties, is of central concern to President Barzani,” David Romano, the Thomas G. Strong Chair in Middle East Politics at Missouri State University, told Kurdistan Chronicle.

“By sending aid to Western Syria, President Barzani is doing his best to help within a very constrained political environment. Given the dearth of nongovernmental organizations in northeast Syria, the BCF may be one of the few actors that can act immediately to assist.”

Fabrice Balanche, an associate professor and research director at the University of Lyon 2, agreed. “The BCF is one of the few NGOs supporting Kurdish people in Western Kurdistan. Displaced people from the Aleppo, Raqqa, and Hassakah countryside need urgent aid, but the area is under blockade from Syrian government forces.”