Newroz Dijwar/JINHA

SULAYMANIYAH –For women from Rojava who have fled Daesh attacks and taken refuge in the Federal Kurdistan Region of Iraq, every day is a difficult one as they wait for the day they can return home.

The recent war in the Middle East has resulted in thousands of people fleeing Rojava and Iraq for the Federal Kurdistan Region. These migrants struggle not only with war, but with the economic crisis that has erupted as a result of the wave of displacement.

Sadiye Seyfo, a mother of five from Kobanê, came to the city of Sulaymaniyah, in the Federal Kurdistan Region, seven months ago. She first fled to Turkey, but said people there treated all migrants as beggars.

"They wouldn't give us a house. They wouldn't even rent to us. Even when by chance they did give us one, they wanted a lot of money," she said. Unable to find work and with her children going hungry, Sadiye fled again to Sulaymaniyah. Now, her children can't attend school.

Sefa Mihemed Ali, also from Kobanê, has been in Sulaymaniyah for two and a half years. She is a mother of four. Although Sefa is trained as a teacher, the local government has refused her permission to enter the profession.

"The people of Southern [Kurdistan, the Federal Kurdistan Region] didn't look very warmly on us. When there were more Rojava migrants, we began to stand up for each other," she said.Still, only one of her children has been able to go to school. The others struggle with the language barrier and are having difficulty adapting.

Sena Ahmed, from Aleppo, has been struggling to survive in the city for more than a year with her four children. She says her main wish is simply to return home to Syria. She called on all Syrian migrants—Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens and all others—to come together and build a fraternal, cooperative way of life.

"For those who say that the Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians are enemies, I have nothing to say," she said. "We're brothers and sisters."

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