[size=39]Forced far from home, Syrians struggle to start over in Idlib[/size]
Displaced people from Aleppo receive blankets in al-Kamouneh camp in Idlib province, Syria December 29, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah
(Reuters) The day he left the Damascus suburb of Daraya, Mohamad Abu Ammar took a photo in the graveyard to remember relatives he would be leaving behind, not knowing if he would ever return to his hometown.
“I packed a keepsake for each of my siblings and friends who were killed, to remember them,” said Abu Ammar, an opposition activist who had worked on a town council in the rebel-run area. “We went to the graveyard to say goodbye.”
He left Daraya by bus in August – when the town was surrendered to President Bashar al-Assad after years of government siege and bombardment – under a deal that gave civilians and fighters safe passage to the rebel-held province of Idlib in northwest Syria.
Syrians have poured into Idlib at an accelerating rate over the last year, forced to abandon their homes in other parts of western Syria that the government and its foreign military allies have recaptured from rebels.
Sheltering in camps or in the homes of friends and relatives, they are struggling to start over in dire conditions as Idlib becomes ever more crowded with people displaced from Damascus, Homs, and most recently Aleppo.
The latest to arrive are from eastern Aleppo, captured from rebels last month in Assad’s most important gain of the war. Convoys shuttled more than 35,000 people – rebel fighters, their families, and civilians who fear Assad’s rule, out of the city’s last rebel-held pocket. Many of them went to Idlib.
For many, the initial relief of escaping siege was quickly replaced by the realisation they may never be able to go home.
Idlib is no safe haven. It remains the focus of fierce air strikes by the Syrian and Russian air forces. Some of the Islamist groups that hold sway there are not covered by a new nationwide ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey.
“The area has become overcrowded,” said Ahmad al-Dbis, a medical aid worker in northern Syria. “It has displaced people from all over Syria, and it’s lacking in services, whether it’s medical, humanitarian, or housing.”
Most people displaced from Aleppo spread out across camps and shelters or went to stay with relatives, al-Dbis said.
STARTING A NEW LIFE
“Everybody here is sympathetic to us, because most of them are displaced from other areas,” said Hassan Kattan, 25, who was evacuated from Aleppo in December. He left behind a rebel enclave that had been besieged for several months, with large areas reduced to rubble by air strikes and artillery. But finding a new place to live was proving difficult, he said.
The U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) puts Idlib’s population at around two million, including 700,000 internally displaced people. It is bordered to the northwest by Turkey, which has set up a new camp for the displaced in Idlib province.
Rebels captured most of the province at the height of their advances in western Syria in 2015. Jihadist groups including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, are powerful players there, eclipsing Free Syrian Army groups that also have a presence in the area.
Although Idlib is a secondary priority to the main population centres of western Syria – Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama and the coast – the army and its allies will want to recover it sooner or later, raising the prospect of yet further displacement.
Abu Taleb, a medic who came to Idlib with his wife, in-laws, and baby daughter, recalls people weeping on the journey from Daraya aboard green state-owned buses that the government has provided for such evacuations.
“I came here, and it’s like I started my life all over again,” he told Reuters in an interview from the area, declining to give his full name. “Some people didn’t want to go,” he said. “But the siege was suffocating us, and we left out of fear.”
Abu Taleb sought refuge in a camp for people uprooted by the war, amid more than 5,000 huts stretched out across the town of Atmeh, planted near the Syrian-Turkish border.
Thousands of tents also cover a hill in the town, near Abu Taleb’s small flat, where he lives with his wife and 5-month-old daughter. “It’s like a village here. It’s better than the tents of course,” he said.
“This camp section was empty when we first arrived. We were among the first to come to it,” he added. “Now there are people from Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Moadamiya. People came from all over Syria.”
RETURN HOME SEEN “IMPOSSIBLE”
Local aid groups provide water, bread on a daily basis, and sometimes clothes. But his area still had no electricity. “We use solar-powered batteries. The power runs for about an hour or two a day, so we charge the phones,” he said.
The government has sought to conclude local agreements with rebels one area at a time, calling this a “workable model to bring security and peace” after nearly six years of war.
The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2011 and made nearly 11 million Syrians homeless.
The opposition to Assad has however said the deals amount to a policy of forced displacement, or demographic changes aimed at shoring up Assad’s rule.
The United Nations aid chief, Stephen O’Brien, voiced “extreme concern” over the Daraya evacuation at the time it went ahead. But since its conclusion, similar deals have been struck with rebel groups in other areas near Damascus.
The United Nations has also said the displaced should be allowed to “return voluntarily, in safety and in dignity”.
Many of the displaced feel stranded in Idlib after leaving their close-knit communities, and they were soon hit by the painful reality that they may never return.
“When you have your own house, your own place to sleep, you have stability in it,” said Kattan, who has been staying with a friend since he arrived from Aleppo. He hopes to send his pregnant wife to Turkey for her safety. “But right now, we have to start from scratch”, he said.
While some people had managed to open small shops, find work, or rent apartments, many say they are far from settling in.
Tammam Abu al-Kheir, an opposition activist from Daraya who now lives in Idlib, said more people were flooding into the area than aid groups could handle. “Everybody did all they could. The people of Idlib opened up their homes,” he added.
Months after arriving from Daraya, Abu Ammar is now trying to find a job. “We still haven’t fully absorbed what happened,” he said. Idlib relieved people from the siege, he said, “but it’s still a war zone here.”
“Emotionally, we all have hope that we will return home,” Abu Ammar added. “But rationally, when I try to think about it, it seems impossible.”
Displaced people from Aleppo receive blankets in al-Kamouneh camp in Idlib province, Syria December 29, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah
(Reuters) The day he left the Damascus suburb of Daraya, Mohamad Abu Ammar took a photo in the graveyard to remember relatives he would be leaving behind, not knowing if he would ever return to his hometown.
“I packed a keepsake for each of my siblings and friends who were killed, to remember them,” said Abu Ammar, an opposition activist who had worked on a town council in the rebel-run area. “We went to the graveyard to say goodbye.”
He left Daraya by bus in August – when the town was surrendered to President Bashar al-Assad after years of government siege and bombardment – under a deal that gave civilians and fighters safe passage to the rebel-held province of Idlib in northwest Syria.
Syrians have poured into Idlib at an accelerating rate over the last year, forced to abandon their homes in other parts of western Syria that the government and its foreign military allies have recaptured from rebels.
Sheltering in camps or in the homes of friends and relatives, they are struggling to start over in dire conditions as Idlib becomes ever more crowded with people displaced from Damascus, Homs, and most recently Aleppo.
The latest to arrive are from eastern Aleppo, captured from rebels last month in Assad’s most important gain of the war. Convoys shuttled more than 35,000 people – rebel fighters, their families, and civilians who fear Assad’s rule, out of the city’s last rebel-held pocket. Many of them went to Idlib.
For many, the initial relief of escaping siege was quickly replaced by the realisation they may never be able to go home.
Idlib is no safe haven. It remains the focus of fierce air strikes by the Syrian and Russian air forces. Some of the Islamist groups that hold sway there are not covered by a new nationwide ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey.
“The area has become overcrowded,” said Ahmad al-Dbis, a medical aid worker in northern Syria. “It has displaced people from all over Syria, and it’s lacking in services, whether it’s medical, humanitarian, or housing.”
Most people displaced from Aleppo spread out across camps and shelters or went to stay with relatives, al-Dbis said.
STARTING A NEW LIFE
“Everybody here is sympathetic to us, because most of them are displaced from other areas,” said Hassan Kattan, 25, who was evacuated from Aleppo in December. He left behind a rebel enclave that had been besieged for several months, with large areas reduced to rubble by air strikes and artillery. But finding a new place to live was proving difficult, he said.
The U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) puts Idlib’s population at around two million, including 700,000 internally displaced people. It is bordered to the northwest by Turkey, which has set up a new camp for the displaced in Idlib province.
Rebels captured most of the province at the height of their advances in western Syria in 2015. Jihadist groups including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, are powerful players there, eclipsing Free Syrian Army groups that also have a presence in the area.
Although Idlib is a secondary priority to the main population centres of western Syria – Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama and the coast – the army and its allies will want to recover it sooner or later, raising the prospect of yet further displacement.
Abu Taleb, a medic who came to Idlib with his wife, in-laws, and baby daughter, recalls people weeping on the journey from Daraya aboard green state-owned buses that the government has provided for such evacuations.
“I came here, and it’s like I started my life all over again,” he told Reuters in an interview from the area, declining to give his full name. “Some people didn’t want to go,” he said. “But the siege was suffocating us, and we left out of fear.”
Abu Taleb sought refuge in a camp for people uprooted by the war, amid more than 5,000 huts stretched out across the town of Atmeh, planted near the Syrian-Turkish border.
Thousands of tents also cover a hill in the town, near Abu Taleb’s small flat, where he lives with his wife and 5-month-old daughter. “It’s like a village here. It’s better than the tents of course,” he said.
“This camp section was empty when we first arrived. We were among the first to come to it,” he added. “Now there are people from Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Moadamiya. People came from all over Syria.”
RETURN HOME SEEN “IMPOSSIBLE”
Local aid groups provide water, bread on a daily basis, and sometimes clothes. But his area still had no electricity. “We use solar-powered batteries. The power runs for about an hour or two a day, so we charge the phones,” he said.
The government has sought to conclude local agreements with rebels one area at a time, calling this a “workable model to bring security and peace” after nearly six years of war.
The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2011 and made nearly 11 million Syrians homeless.
The opposition to Assad has however said the deals amount to a policy of forced displacement, or demographic changes aimed at shoring up Assad’s rule.
The United Nations aid chief, Stephen O’Brien, voiced “extreme concern” over the Daraya evacuation at the time it went ahead. But since its conclusion, similar deals have been struck with rebel groups in other areas near Damascus.
The United Nations has also said the displaced should be allowed to “return voluntarily, in safety and in dignity”.
Many of the displaced feel stranded in Idlib after leaving their close-knit communities, and they were soon hit by the painful reality that they may never return.
“When you have your own house, your own place to sleep, you have stability in it,” said Kattan, who has been staying with a friend since he arrived from Aleppo. He hopes to send his pregnant wife to Turkey for her safety. “But right now, we have to start from scratch”, he said.
While some people had managed to open small shops, find work, or rent apartments, many say they are far from settling in.
Tammam Abu al-Kheir, an opposition activist from Daraya who now lives in Idlib, said more people were flooding into the area than aid groups could handle. “Everybody did all they could. The people of Idlib opened up their homes,” he added.
Months after arriving from Daraya, Abu Ammar is now trying to find a job. “We still haven’t fully absorbed what happened,” he said. Idlib relieved people from the siege, he said, “but it’s still a war zone here.”
“Emotionally, we all have hope that we will return home,” Abu Ammar added. “But rationally, when I try to think about it, it seems impossible.”
Today at 7:20 am by Rocky
» Did Barzani agree in Tehran to end the presence of Iranian groups in Kurdistan? - urgent
Today at 7:16 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: We are establishing a new situation for the global energy market through the Development
Today at 7:14 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The government program devoted a wide scope to the government’s vision for oil and gas in
Today at 7:11 am by Rocky
» Al-Awadi: Ending the work of the UNAMI mission is consistent with the government’s vision in this fi
Today at 7:10 am by Rocky
» utube 5/9/24 MM&C 0:02 / 46:46 PM - Al-Sudani - Golden Opportunity - Private Sector - Contra
Today at 5:34 am by Rocky
» utube MM&C 5/11/24 Iraqi Dinar - IQD Update - International - IraqTiming - 2024 Budget Schedule - Sp
Today at 5:32 am by Rocky
» MM&C Floating the dinar" returns to the forefront.. Will the Central Bank of Iraq resort to it and w
Today at 5:24 am by Rocky
» The Secretary of the Ministry of Defense meets with the Commander of the NATO mission
Today at 5:17 am by Rocky
» Expert: The stability of the economy is linked to the political situation
Today at 5:13 am by Rocky
» A parliamentary request to lift the injustice against 20,000 Iraqi employees
Today at 5:09 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance criticizes the government's failure to send the budget schedules
Today at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Minister of Oil: The 5th and 6th licensing rounds will take place within the framework of exploratio
Today at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: Iraq is a difficult number in the global market in the field of energy
Today at 5:06 am by Rocky
» Al-Khanjar rejects Al-Halbousi’s request to head Parliament
Today at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Revealing the date of the arrival of the 2024 budget schedules
Today at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Al-Halbousi nominates Talal Al-Zubaie for presidency of the House of Representatives
Today at 5:03 am by Rocky
» "A coup in Iraqi universities"... Replacement of presidents and deans under the new education law
Today at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: Iraq is a difficult number in the equation of energy and oil wealth in the region and the
Today at 5:00 am by Rocky
» Minister of Oil: We hope to announce an increase in Iraq’s oil reserves to 160 billion barrels
Today at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Iraq's mass graves...stories that did not end with the burial of their owners, and the "legacy of IS
Today at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Pictures: New licenses in Iraq to extract “huge” quantities of oil and gas
Today at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Transport reopens the Baghdad - Samarra railway line
Today at 4:55 am by Rocky
» Al-Awadi: A government decision to provide sovereign guarantees and guarantees to encourage the inve
Today at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Oil clarifies the mechanism for investing grant funds and licensing contracts
Today at 4:51 am by Rocky
» A $700 million agreement is signed between Iraq and Italy to finance these projects
Today at 4:50 am by Rocky
» Iraq recovers 90 billion dinars from social protection violators
Today at 4:49 am by Rocky
» Sudanese officially launches the two licensing rounds and sets the date for stopping gas burning
Today at 4:48 am by Rocky
» An economic vision for the standard of competition for exploratory plots in Iraq
Today at 4:47 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi Islamic Bank announces an increase in its capital to 300 billion dinars
Today at 4:46 am by Rocky
» A communication from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Interior in Kurdistan regarding “herb
Today at 4:44 am by Rocky
» Popular agreement to end the “cancer towers” crisis in the oldest villages of Diyala.. Document
Today at 4:42 am by Rocky
» What is the reason for OPEC's decision to stop publishing its estimates of the volume of global dema
Today at 4:41 am by Rocky
» It includes 29 projects in 12 governorates.. Launching the fifth supplementary licensing round and t
Today at 4:40 am by Rocky
» Among them are 8 Chinese companies...an economic view of the criteria for competition over explorato
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Sudanese: Gas burning will stop within 3-5 years
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» With the extension of its legislative term.. Will the Iraqi parliament succeed in resolving the budg
Today at 4:36 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani's angry message to Guterres: We do not need UNAMI.. Describe your belongings and leave
Today at 4:35 am by Rocky
» As a result of corruption charges... Parliamentary signatures were collected to dismiss the director
Today at 4:33 am by Rocky
» 13 countries are competing for 29 fields, and Anbar and Muthanna have the lion’s share... Details of
Today at 4:30 am by Rocky
» Ending the international coalition’s mission...negotiations may take more time
Today at 4:29 am by Rocky
» Oil reveals a mechanism to support services and establish infrastructure projects in the producing g
Today at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Al-Hakim: The future cannot be mortgaged to volatile oil prices
Today at 4:26 am by Rocky
» The New Generation Movement files a lawsuit to dissolve the regional government: It is unable to mak
Today at 4:24 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The government program devoted a wide scope to the government’s vision for oil and gas in
Today at 4:23 am by Rocky
» Al-Rafidain: Loans for purchasing residential units start from 5 to 150 million
Today at 4:21 am by Rocky
» Iraq launches a new licensing round to develop oil and gas fields
Today at 4:20 am by Rocky
» Signing an agreement between Iraq and Italy to finance industrial projects worth $700 million
Today at 4:19 am by Rocky
» Minister of Oil: Soon we will announce the increase in Iraq’s oil reserves to 160 billion barrels
Today at 4:18 am by Rocky
» The Chinese company ZPEC wins the investment in the East Baghdad field - the northern extensions
Today at 4:17 am by Rocky
» utube 5/9/24 Iraqi Dinar | Ali Alaq Announced New Rate Finally Showing New Rate On Tv Screen | Din
Yesterday at 4:55 pm by Rocky
» A leader in the National Bank: We are committed to the federal decision and to postpone the election
Yesterday at 9:28 am by Rocky
» Al-Hakim: Iraq's future cannot be mortgaged to volatile oil prices
Yesterday at 9:24 am by Rocky
» The conflict of the corridors: the path to development from a historical perspective and the door to
Yesterday at 9:22 am by Rocky
» The Kurdistan Region demands that the federal government spend 1.1 billion dinars.. What is the reas
Yesterday at 9:21 am by Rocky
» Tomorrow, Iraq is preparing to launch a complementary round of gas licensing
Yesterday at 9:19 am by Rocky
» A government move to restore the funds of the Trade Bank of Iraq
Yesterday at 9:17 am by Rocky
» The Central Bank informs France of plans to restructure the banking sector
Yesterday at 9:15 am by Rocky
» A government advisor reveals the fate of the budget tables
Yesterday at 9:13 am by Rocky
» Iranian mediation between Baghdad and Erbil... Revealing the most prominent files of Raisi’s visit t
Yesterday at 9:10 am by Rocky
» Reconstruction and development is a priority.. A parliamentary committee follows up and monitors gov
Yesterday at 9:08 am by Rocky
» Al-Hakim comments on the agreements concluded with Türkiye and confirms: Iraq is on the right path
Yesterday at 9:06 am by Rocky
» Tomorrow... Iraq takes a step that will give it gas equivalent to 200% of imported Iranian gas
Yesterday at 9:04 am by Rocky
» A long and disturbing message.. The Iraqi government “blames” the United Nations because of “other p
Yesterday at 9:00 am by Rocky
» The Governor of the Central Bank and the French Ambassador discuss developments in the banking secto
Yesterday at 5:18 am by Rocky
» Al-Bajari: Iraqi companies will have a great opportunity to work after opening the door to investmen
Yesterday at 5:16 am by Rocky
» Transparency: Imports from Sulaymaniyah and Halabja during the past week amounted to more than 10 bi
Yesterday at 5:13 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The delayed projects left great damage to the level of services in Babylon
Yesterday at 5:12 am by Rocky
» Economist: The fluctuation of the dollar is “the balance of speculators”
Yesterday at 5:10 am by Rocky
» {Al-Furat News} publishes the text of Al-Sudani’s request to Guterres to end UNAMI’s work in Iraq
Yesterday at 5:08 am by Rocky
» A former MP accuses Türkiye of transferring its conflict with the workers to Iraq
Yesterday at 5:05 am by Rocky
» A call to the Sudanese to remove American forces from Iraq
Yesterday at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Oil Parliament: Ankara holds Erbil responsible for the oil fines it owes
Yesterday at 5:02 am by Rocky
» The government is silent...the reality of removing American forces from Iraq
Yesterday at 5:01 am by Rocky
» The radiation protection law in the first session of the next legislative term
Yesterday at 5:00 am by Rocky
» A Spanish company raises controversy and a representative reveals a parliamentary movement against i
Yesterday at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Sudanese officially requests the end of the United Nations mission in Iraq / documents
Yesterday at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Because its sessions were not held, the Kirkuk Council faces a judicial complaint, and its members d
Yesterday at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Former US Chief of Staff: We slaughtered huge numbers of innocent people in Iraq and other countries
Yesterday at 4:55 am by Rocky
» The Association of Private Banks counts the percentage of shares traded on the stock market during a
Yesterday at 4:53 am by Rocky
» The European Union and Iraq agree to increase cooperation between them
Yesterday at 4:52 am by Rocky
» American Bank: Expectations to increase Iraq’s oil capacity in 2025
Yesterday at 4:50 am by Rocky
» Central Bank Governor to the French Ambassador: The plan to restructure government banks will change
Yesterday at 4:48 am by Rocky
» Integrity confirms working to conclude a memorandum of understanding with the Kuwaiti Anti-Corruptio
Yesterday at 4:47 am by Rocky
» Highlights of the Prime Minister's visit to Babylon
Yesterday at 4:46 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Transport discusses with a Turkish delegation the latest developments in the develop
Yesterday at 4:44 am by Rocky
» Free of charge.. Issuing approximately 13 thousand unified cards for those covered by social protect
Yesterday at 4:42 am by Rocky
» A parliamentary committee advises the government to deter trespassers: Slums are one of the reasons
Yesterday at 4:41 am by Rocky
» Embassy Protection confirms to “Baghdad Today”: The missions are safe and we have taken proactive me
Yesterday at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Water resources resolve the controversy of the “Wadi Al-Tea” project.. It will nourish the Hamrin ic
Yesterday at 4:37 am by Rocky
» After approving the National Security Strategy...a parliamentary movement to host “responsible” figu
Yesterday at 4:36 am by Rocky
» Al-Hakim calls for the distribution of plots of land to the families of the martyrs of the Popular M
Yesterday at 4:34 am by Rocky
» Order 160 Committee completes the “port scandals” papers... and searches for a legal outlet for impl
Yesterday at 4:33 am by Rocky
» It revealed the details of its contract with four companies to complete the census requirements... P
Yesterday at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Egypt, Morocco and Qatar praise the Iraqi Integrity proposal to establish the Arab Law Enforcement C
Yesterday at 4:30 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi Parliament enters its legislative recess and requires holding an “extraordinary” session o
Yesterday at 4:28 am by Rocky
» The Sudanese has not rested since the morning.. He carried out 12 activities and allocated a trillio
Yesterday at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Blinken's agent: Erbil is a strategic ally of Washington in a 360-degree relationship
Yesterday at 4:25 am by Rocky
» Oil seeks to convert refinery products to “Euro 5”... high quality and environmentally friendly
Yesterday at 4:24 am by Rocky