The recent fighting between rebels and the government in northwest Syria displaced thousands of residents from the cities of Idlib, Aleppo and Hama, who fled eastward to Kurdish-administered territories under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Reports state that they are now facing dire conditions, with limited resources and freezing winter temperatures.
The Voice of America reported that over 100,000 IDPs, mostly Kurds, face not only the dangers of ongoing fighting and airstrikes but also reported death threats.
Ahmed Ibrahim, a member of the Kurdish Red Crescent Refugee Council in Tabqa, said the IDPs have already taken perilous routes to reach Raqqa and Tabqa in the north and east of Syria.
“Due to the threat of massacre by jihadists, the fleeing of civilians to Raqqa and Tabqa continues. According to our initial data, the number of people who have arrived has exceeded 100,000, most of whom are women and children,” he told VOA. This number is expected to increase in the coming days, according to Ibrahim.
The Kurdish Red Crescent and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) are now scrambling to provide aid to the IDPs. Ibrahim noted that the majority of the IDPs have been housed in local schools by AANES, while the Kurdish Red Crescent has established over 150 tents to accommodate them.
While the organizations provide food, clean water, winter clothing, and blankets for the IDPs, Ibrahim noted that the influx of arrivals means these supplies will not be sufficient to meet the growing needs. He calls on international humanitarian aid organizations to help address the urgent needs of the IDPs.
Multiple armed insurgent groups are participating in the recent offensive in northwest Syria, with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leading the charge. HTS was formerly a branch of the al-Nusra Front in Syria until 2017, when it was designated a global terrorist organization and rebranded.
Earlier this week, the rebel forces captured key areas of Aleppo in a rapid assault that overwhelmed Syrian army defenses, leaving government forces in retreat.
