Between Syria and Iraq: a refugee's point of view

The Kurdish border town of Peshkhabur in Northern Iraq has witnessed an unusual flow of people recently. Those who make the short journey accross the Khabur River in rickety boats are mostly refugees leaving Syria, but many also return to Syria. Even coffins have to be transported on the small boats, like the one pictured here.

Two boats work non-stop from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., repeatedly making the five-minute journey between Syrian and Iraqi shores. According to border officials, an average of 200 people use the border crossing every day.

Many refugees go back and forth depending on the security situation in the Syrian Kurdish region they call home. Since Syria's Kurds vowed to neither ally with Bashar al-Assad's forces nor with the insurgents, the region is constantly attacked by al Qaeda-linked jihadist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), both of which oppose Assad's forces.

When they arrive back on the Syrian shore, travelers' luggage is thoroughly checked by the Asayish, the newly formed Kurdish police. All Asayish members are volunteers and many of them are women.

Hashim Mohamed is the head of the Asayish, the Syrian Kurdish police. He told DW he is in charge of 4,000 conscripts, in addition to the over 40,000 soldiers in the YPG - the Kurdish acronym for "People's Protection Units." The YPG is a Kurdish militia that is trying to keep the Syrian civil war out of Kurdish territory.

Before they cross the border into Syria, refugees have to pay a fee of 1,000 Syrian Pounds - around 6 euros - to the Syrian Kurdish authorities. DW was told that the money gathered here is of vital importance in funding the security apparatus in Syria's northeast.

Until construction of a solid bridge between both Kurdish territories is completed, vehicles use the recently set up pontoon bridge. The black tubes hanging on its side are used to transport fuel.

Many refugees take alternative routes to avoid delays at the official border crossing. Theirs is a risky journey that potentially leads through minefields. These routes are also favored by smugglers or even Islamic fighters bound for Syria.

People's Protection Units run by the Kurdish YPG dot the unofficial border between Iraq and Syria. The successful Kurdish militia has become an army that has proved capable of defending the Kurdish territory it captured in July 2012.

Iraqi Federal Army soldiers also patrol the unofficial Iraqi-Syrian border. Many Sunni refugees have reportedly been arrested on their way into Iraq, since the country is run by a Shiite-led government.

Those who choose to stay in Iraq rather than return to Syria live in one of the five refugee camps set up in Iraqi Kurdistan. The camp in Domiz, 70 kilometers from the border with Syria, is home to 45,000 refugees. According to the UNHCR, there are currently around 200,000 Syrian refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan.