13 March 2019 – 4.1 million live in Northwest of Syria welcomed the news on the Russia- Turkey agreement on demilitarized zones last September. The agreement brought some relief for civilians who have been suffering from the consequences of the continuoushostilities in the area, nevertheless approximately 40 % of the population are IDPs, and 10% of the population live in non-stable residentials lacking basic humanitarian services, ceasefire was an opportunity for civilians and CSOs providing services to IDPs to improve life conditions, and circumstances in the area, however this agreement is fragile like the previous ones, and soon Syrian regime launched early February an offensive on northern countryside of Hama and southern countryside of Idlib.
In the past 30 days over 90 civilians were killed and over 300 were injured, we all saw the little child Hasnaa ten years old who was severely injured while she was trying to save her younger sister Elaf who passed away after military jets of the Syrian government targeted their house intown of Khan Shaykhun. Humanitarian and civilian facilities didn’t survive the offensive, AlDurra bakery in Maret Alnuman town was completely destroyed after an airstrike directly targeted it.
Over 8314 families fled out of their towns to be added to the 400k living in IDPs camps in NW Syria, displacement has beenmajor concern for humanitarian actors especially with the very weak response from donors to such crisis.
The signatory NGOs call for:
- The ceasefire agreement guarantors Turkey and Russia should abide to their commitments to the demilitarized zones.
- ISSG and specially Istanbul group to use all their diplomacy channels to enforce a political solution based on UNSCR 2254, and avoid military actions.
- UN special envoy and his team to use all channels to influence the international diplomacy to advocate for protection of civilians in Syria as a first priority for all stakeholders, and to enforce peace talks to go forward.
Read the original joint statement here.
