ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Ruben Wagensberg, a Catalan legislator, shared his experience in northeast Syria (Rojava) with Rudaw English following a four-day visit to the region. He explained that his primary objective was to bring attention to the humanitarian challenges faced by the people of Rojava and ensure these issues made headlines in the European media.
“Our trip to Rojava aimed primarily to shed light on the situation of displaced people from the Shehba area (former residents of Afrin) who have relocated to Raqqa and Tabqa. The trip was conducted mainly with a journalistic focus, successfully generating numerous news stories in Europe about the humanitarian challenges these people face,” Wagensberg said on Sunday after returning to Catalonia.
Catalan politician Carles Albert also accompanied Wagensberg to Rojava last week.
Some 120,000 people from Shabla region were displaced to Rojava earlier this month after the Turkey-backed Syrian militants took control of the region - which had used to be by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for years. Most of these had already been displaced from their hometown of Afrin after it came under the control of the same groups in 2018.
The Kurdish authorities have warned that these people are in desperate need amid a dwindling international aid.
“We also took the opportunity to evaluate their future needs, given the limited international cooperation and aid they currently receive. We spent only four days in northern and eastern Syria, dedicating most of our time to this work,” added the lawmaker.
The Catalan delegation met with a number of senior Rojava officials and commanders, including SDF chief Mazloum Abdi. Wagensberg said the aim of the meetings was “to help us better understand the current context and the potential new displacements that could arise if the conflict escalates - for example, in the event of an invasion of Kobane or other regions.”
In response to a question about what inspired him to visit Rojava, the Catalan lawmaker said, “I naturally have a special connection when it comes to issues affecting Kurds, as Catalans feel very close to the Kurds for obvious reasons.”
Wagensberg added that he had also visited refugee camps in the Kurdistan Region, elaborating that he has closely monitored the developments in the Region and Rojava.
The Kurdistan Region and Catalonia are thousands of miles apart, yet both nations have expressed mutual support for one another.
In 2017, both regions held independence referendums. Although over 90 percent of the populations in Kurdistan and Catalonia voted for separation from Iraq and Spain, respectively, both regions remain within the borders and authority of these countries.
