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           Year After Liberation from IS, Life in Kobani Still Tough

   by Sirwan Kajjo

   It has been an uneasy year since Kobani, a border town in northern
   Syria, was liberated from the Islamic State group.

   The liberation of the city was hailed as the first successful case of
   cooperation between the Western coalition, whose fierce airstrikes
   helped drive IS from the city, and Kurdish fighters, who pushed IS
   militants out on the ground.

   But the slow recovery also shows how difficult it will be for cities in
   Iraq and Syria to return to normal life after they have been occupied
   and controlled by IS.

   The air assault and four months of fierce fighting left the town of
   nearly 300,000 inhabitants in ruins.

   Returning refugees came back with determination to rebuild even though
   most of the city's homes - as many as 80 percent -- were in ruins.

   "Living in a tent was a humiliation," a still fearful resident who
   spent months in a refugee camp in Turkey told VOA. "I chose to come
   back, despite knowing life would be tougher here."

   Soon after the liberation, a local commission was formed to help
   rebuild Kobani.  In July, an international conference was held at the
   European Union offices in Brussels to discuss the rebuilding of Kobani
   and ways to aid the city.

   Officials, however, complain that assistance from international donors
   has yet to be delivered.

   "UnfortunatelyØ no government or international body has so far stepped
   in to help us in our efforts," said Choman Kaanani, who heads the
   engineers association in Kobani.

   "Most [of the help] we receive is from non-governmental organizations
   and private Kurdish citizens.  But this not enough to rebuild Kobani,"
   he said.

   The private donations from organizations in the U.S., Europe and other
   parts of the world have made a difference in securing basic needs.

   "Until now we have actually restored up to 80 percent of electricity in
   Kobani," Hawzhin Azizi, a member of the Kobani Reconstruction
   Commission, told VOA. "We have also built two large bakeries to supply
   bread to much of the city."

   Inadequate services have hindered the return of many refugees to their
   homes. An estimated 50,000 people - 15 percent of the pre-war
   population - have made it back home

   Refugees are unhappy with the slow pace of the rebuilding process.

   "I don't know how long this will take.  My children have not been in
   school since we fled Kobani," said Jamal Hamid, a father of four
   children, in a telephone interview with VOA.

   Living in a refugee camp across the border in Turkey, Hamid said his
   return to Kobani might take longer than what he and his family
   expected.

   "Even if we decide to go back [to Kobani], there will be no place for
   us to stay - much less for my children to be able to go back to
   school," he said.

   Further complicating matters is the fact that the only border crossing
   between Kobani and Turkey has been shut for the past three months. This
   has halted many ongoing projects in the city, local officials say.

   The border shutdown has also affected the lives of ordinary people in
   Kobani, who heavily rely on goods coming from Turkey.  Consequently,
   prices of food staples and other products have skyrocketed.

   Locals say they now get most of their food staples from other Kurdish
   areas where agricultural products are relatively abundant.  But this is
   risky, as IS militants control some areas between the various Kurdish
   regions in Syria.

   On the security front, Kurdish forces have maintained a strong grip on
   the city.

   Save for an attack in June 2015 in which more than 50 civilians were
   killed by IS militants who infiltrated the city, Kurds have largely
   been able to keep IS at bay.

   Kurdish officials are encouraging more refugees to return.

   "Daesh [IS] is no longer a stronger force. They have lost a lot of
   ground to our [Kurdish] forces...  the threat to Kobani no longer
   exists," said Ismat Sheikh Hasan, head of the defense commission in
   Kobani's regional administration.

   "Now it's time for the free world to help us rebuild the city the same
   way they helped us liberate [it] from those [IS] thugs," Hasan said.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/year-after-liberation-from-is-life-in
   -kobani-still-tough/3165529.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/year-after-liberation-from-is-life-in-kobani-still-tough/3165529.html