These Heartbreaking Pictures Show What Life Is Like For Kurds Fleeing ISIS

Photographer Dirk Emmerich was on the scene as they fled from Syria into Turkey.

By
Juliane Leopold
by Juliane Leopold

BuzzFeed Gründungschefin, Deutschland

More than 130,000 people have been forced to flee from Syria to Turkey since last Thursday to escape ISIS.

Dirk Emmerich / Via facebook.com

These pictures show people from Ayn al-Arab — Kobane in English — on the border between Syria and Turkey

Dirk Emmerich / Via dirkemmerich.tumblr.com

The refugees report that ISIS has conquered the villages around Kobane, killing vast numbers of the local population.

Dirk Emmerich / Via dirkemmerich.tumblr.com

While ISIS attacks Kobane, armed wings of Kurdish parties try to protect the area. Since Friday a US-led coalition has been bombing Syria to stop ISIS. The Kurdistan Workers' Party — PKK — is also asking Kurds to join them to protect Kobane.

Dirk Emmerich / Via dirkemmerich.tumblr.com

Since 2011, when the civil war in Syria started, more than 800.000 people have fled from Syria to Turkey.

Dirk Emmerich / Via dirkemmerich.tumblr.com

More than one million Syrians have fled to Lebanon, a quarter of its own population. Overall, almost three million Syrians have left their country on the search for safety.

According to Kurdish activists, a few days ago violent clashes between Turkish security forces, the refugees and pro-Kurdish activists took place in the nearby city of Suruç.

Dirk Emmerich / Via dirkemmerich.tumblr.com
Dirk Emmerich / Via dirkemmerich.tumblr.com
Dirk Emmerich / Via dirkemmerich.tumblr.com

Turkey opened its border to Syria to let in refugees from Kobane only after protests by the Kurds on the Syrian border.

Dirk Emmerich / Via dirkemmerich.tumblr.com
Dirk Emmerich / Via dirkemmerich.tumblr.com
Skip to footer