NORTHWESTERN SYRIA STRUGGLES WITH DISPLACED PEOPLE IN WINTER

Avellon Williams 

DAMASCUS, SYRIA – The people of northwestern Syria are already struggling to make ends meet. This is made worse by the winter weather. The people in the region have been displaced and are living in poverty.

As a result of the conflict, thousands of Syrians have been displaced and are living in tents in the country’s northwestern regions amid heavy rain and snow.

Camps along the Turkish-Syrian border in Idlib have been flooded, making life difficult for the hundreds of families that live there.

According to Mohammed Hallaj, Syria’s Response Coordination Group director, heavy rains have caused at least 79 tent camps to flood in Idlib and Aleppo.

As reported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday, heavy snowfall devastated northwestern Syria, damaging tents, displacement sites, and personal items.

According to the statement, relocating affected persons to safe places, providing heating, replacing destroyed tents, as well as providing ready-to-eat meals and winter clothes for children and families are the most pressing needs.

In the Hama countryside, Ali Said, who was forcibly displaced three years ago by the Assad regime attacks on his village, said that his tent was submerged by heavy rains.

“Tents and raincoats are among the supplies that are urgently needed by displaced families,” he said.

Since early 2011, the Assad regime has brutally suppressed pro-democracy protesters in Syria.

The de-escalation zone in Idlib was created through an agreement between the Turkeys and the Russians. There have been multiple cease-fire agreements in the area, which have been repeatedly violated by the Assad regime and its allies.

The situation for the people in Idlib worsened when the Assad regime, backed by Russia and Iran, launched an offensive on the province, causing large-scale displacement. 

Syrians have fled their homes to escape the fighting. Many are living in overcrowded tent camps and out in the open, living in poverty struggling to find food, shelty, and work.