Civilians at Breaking Point in Idlib as Russian-Backed Syrian Forces Push Forward

Syria’s renewed offensive in its Idlib province against opposition forces, muddled by indiscriminate firing, has destroyed hospitals and schools, and created another mass refugee exodus as the conflict increasingly leaves civilians in unbearable conditions. Such violence is generating what the UN says is the country’s worst humanitarian crisis since the Syrian civil war erupted nine years ago.

On December 1, 2019, Bashar al Assad’s government forces began another campaign to seize the governorate of Idlib after previous ceasefire failures. The Syrian President had vowed in 2016 to “liberate every inch” of the country. Russia’s air force and Iranian-supported militias back Assad’s army and now completely surround Idlib—the final bastion of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (SNA) fighters. Parts of the Idlib and Aleppo provinces serve as key battle lines between these warring sides.

The International Rescue Committee had warned on December 23, 2019 that a “major humanitarian catastrophe” was on the horizon.

The International Rescue Committee had warned on December 23, 2019 that a “major humanitarian catastrophe” was on the horizon, as thousands of civilians were fleeing airstrikes from the latest offensive. Now this disaster is unfolding further as over three million civilians are trapped in a war zone.

Despite the Syrian and Russian governments’ claim that they seek to take Idlib from “terrorists,” and that there are indeed designated terrorist organizations operating within the governorate, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, said that the presence of jihadists cannot justify “indiscriminate bombardment of the civilian population.”

“In 2019, there were 85 attacks on hospitals and health facilities, some of which were run by the United Nations,” Tue Jakobsen, Assistant Country Director-Humanitarian at CARE Turkey, told Inside Arabia. “A hospital next door to a maternity clinic that we ran, was bombed three times in a row. You cannot tell me that you mistakenly bombed the same target three times in a row. That is not a coincidence, it’s a tactic.”

Aid workers have often tried to return to hospitals to retrieve essential equipment before they are bombed again. Yet many are still hit multiple times, leaving a lack of resources to rescue suffering civilians.

Speaking to Inside Arabia, Layla Hasso, Communication and Advocacy Supervisor at the Hurras Network, said there is limited safe housing and food prices in Idlib are soaring. Along with hospitals, schools are being hit, meaning that children and other people’s livelihoods are being stripped away.

“Many children suffer from anemia and yellowing of the face due to lack of food and loss of appetite.”

“Many children suffer from anemia and yellowing of the face due to lack of food and loss of appetite,” Hasso said.

According to estimates, there are currently over four million civilians in northwest Syria; more than half are internally displaced, and some have been forced to flee several times. Around 80 percent of the newly displaced are women and children; elderly people are also at risk.

Upwards of 500,000 children have now been dislocated by intense violence in northwest Syria since December 1, 2019, according to UNICEF. Lives are lost every day. Many have sought refuge in Idlib after fleeing conflict elsewhere in Syria and are now at risk of displacement yet again.

“We often witness unbelievably long convoys of displaced people in cars or in platform trucks, driving North, towards the Turkish border,” said Tue Jakobsen. “350,000 people set off in the first week of February alone. Many of them did not make it far enough, as the bombs had caught up with them. Consequently, they were forced to flee for the second time.”

“The catastrophic truth is that the northern region is already far too overcrowded. These people are forced to squeeze into a very small space because in front of them lies the Turkish border,” Jakobsen added.

Families escaping the conflict have been forced to seek refuge in abandoned prison cells without food, blankets, and other essential equipment.

The winter months in Syria have created unbearable conditions for children.

The winter months in Syria have created unbearable conditions for children. The Hurras Network, which provides psychosocial support and protection to children in Syria, reported a case in which as many as seven children – including a baby only seven months old – died from freezing temperatures and horrific living conditions in camps.

“Two sisters, aged four and three, died when their tent burned down because their heater was unsafe. Their pregnant mother sustained burns on her body,” said an aid worker from the Hurras Network. “A 14-year-old boy who was living with his family of seven in a small tent succumbed to freezing temperatures.”

In a report by Save the Children, Mira, a 13-year-old girl displaced to a refugee camp, said: “I did not like the snow in the camp because it was really cold and both my sister and I got sick. Part of our tent collapsed because of the weight of the snow on it. I did not have clothes or anything to keep me warm in our tent. I want shoes to play in the snow like my friends.”

Describing the conditions of refugee camps, Layla Hasso explained that women often lack privacy, sharing bathrooms due to overcrowding. “There is no special place to change clothes or shower. Sometimes, refugee camps do not even contain bathrooms,” Hasso said.

Civilians are not only fleeing the risk of being hit by airstrikes, they’re also running away from the consequences awaiting them should government forces recapture Idlib.

Civilians are not only fleeing the risk of being hit by airstrikes, they’re also running away from the consequences awaiting them should government forces recapture Idlib.

“95 percent of the population fled out of their cities as Russia, Syria, and Iranian militias get closer to the cities, rather than before they invade. This answers a lot of questions,” Fadel Abdul Ghany, Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, told Inside Arabia. “They know very well what faces them if they are captured by Assad’s army: either torture, imprisonment, or forced conscription.”

Turkey has said that it does not want to accept more refugees, having already taken in over 3.5 million Syrians during the war, yet it has continued to support cross-border humanitarian operations.

“Humanitarian workers and partners are completely overwhelmed and trying to deliver aid under dire circumstance, while also increasingly becoming a target themselves and facing the threat of death,” Tue Jakobsen said. “People are having to flee overnight without any of their belongings and towards places where there are limited spaces for them to find shelter and food.”

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, has described the situation in Syria as “alarming,” adding that even with aid efforts to alleviate the growing humanitarian emergency, it has been difficult to cope with the growing demands.

Aggravating the chaos, according to Fadel Abdul Ghany, is the “widespread looting” in Idlib by Assad’s army and Iranian militias since people have started fleeing—including basic goods, microwaves, refrigerators, and anything else they can find and sell.

“This is part of their salary, under the watch of the government. Yet the government allows this, to keep them there,” Ghany said.

With a rising humanitarian crisis and an increased number of civilians in need of help, as aid organizations struggle, a resolution to the conflict in Idlib is vital.