There are fears Syria’s last opposition stronghold of Idlib is a “catastrophe” waiting to happen, with up to 2 million civilians trapped in the region vulnerable to attack from Syrian government and Russian forces and at the mercy of an increasingly powerful jihadist group.
In the Idlib countryside, Um Abdou sweeps the dirt out of the tent she lives in her with eight children. It’s been freezing cold in winter and now she’s worried they won’t have enough water as summer nears.
“It’s filthy. What can I tell you about my situation? It’s so depressing,” she said.
“We get so little water, so little food, hardly any hygiene products.”
When East Aleppo was taken back by the Syrian Government in December, Um Abdou chose to be bused to Idlib, in the country’s north-west, and camp out with her family rather than stay and live under Bashar Al-Assad’s control.
“We are afraid that the regime might even follow us to here,” she told the ABC.
“This regime cannot be trusted.”
Ever since Russia joined the war in 2015, overwhelming airpower has seen the opposition steadily lose ground.
It is estimated there are between 1.8 to 2 million civilians essentially trapped in the province, with approximately 800,000 of them displaced people from other parts of Syria.
Turkey has officially closed its border so unless civilians are able to pay a bribe, only a limited number of humanitarian cases cross over.
Beirut-based Syria analyst Sam Heller fears it is only a matter of time before regime-backed forces launch an offensive in the north-west.
“I do think that a real catastrophe is on the way,” he said.
“I think this onslaught is on the way… just because of the nature of the armed factions there and I think ultimately the intransigence of the Assad regime and its determination to retake this area.”
Will Turkey reopen its border?
Mr Heller said pressure was mounting on Turkey to reopen its border.
“The ultimate choice for Turkey is not going to be whether it can maintain a permanent safe zone in part of the north-west because I don’t think it can. I think the choice is whether it opens the border or not,” he said.
“We should be trying to think through everything we can to just save as many of these people as possible.”
The ABC met Mohammad Darwish in Turkey. He had been evacuated to Idlib from Madaya — the city made famous when images of emaciated children were beamed out to the world.
Mr Darwish was a dentistry student before the war but when Madaya was besieged by Government forces he became one of the town’s only “doctors”.
He and his medical co-workers sent out the photos of the starving residents.
Now, his friends and colleagues are stuck in Idlib.
“The people in Idlib are afraid to come under the control of the regime. So honestly they don’t know what to expect or what to do or where to go,” he said.
“The majority of these people are wanted people. They fear a mass attack on this area.”
Islamist groups taking control in Idlib…
READ MORE HERE: Syria war: Fears of ‘catastrophe’ on the way for millions trapped in Idlib – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
No comments:
Post a Comment