The new siege of Aleppo leads Kurds to flee their homes
The Ministry of Defense of the Syrian transitional government declared the “positions” of the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) to be legitimate military targets. According to the DAANES, this is a foretold war of extermination.
The Ministry of Defense of the Syrian transitional government declared the “positions” of the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) to be legitimate military targets. According to the DAANES, this is a foretold war of extermination.
Daniela Galiè•January 25, 2026
IL MANIFESTO
IL MANIFESTO
ITALY
Haifa Mohammed is 44 years old. She is one of many people forced to abandon Aleppo due to the intensifying attacks against the city’s Kurdish neighborhoods. “I had lived in Aleppo for eight years, after being displaced from Afrin. My family and I lived in the Ashrafiyah neighborhood.”
This neighborhood, along with Sheikh Maqsoud, has long been one of the main places to settle for people expelled from other areas of Northern Syria – particularly from Afrin after the Turkish occupation in 2018. It is a neighborhood of mixed demographic composition, organized according to the civil institutions of the Autonomous Administration (DAANES).
“In recent months the two neighborhoods were hit by occasional attacks. Every time they were defended by the Internal Security Forces.” Those episodes presaged the current escalation, which began on January 6, with a progressive intensification of violence that in recent weeks has moved from intermittent incursions to systematic attacks, making it increasingly impossible to stay in the two neighborhoods for many families. “This time the attack was on a large scale: artillery, tanks, drones, snipers.”
The Ministry of Defense of the Syrian transitional government declared the “positions” of the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) to be legitimate military targets. According to the DAANES, this is a foretold war of extermination.
On the map of targets circulated by the Ministry, vast residential areas were included, including the only hospital in Sheikh Maqsoud. In a few hours, the skies of Aleppo filled with Grad rockets, artillery rounds and suicide drones. “We took refuge in the basement and came out only to get necessities. The noises were deafening; the shells fell indiscriminately. The children were afraid; we couldn’t sleep.”
The inhabitants of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah have already been through 15 years of civil war: the siege of Aleppo, the embargo imposed first by the regime of Bashar al-Assad and then by the transitional government. But this time it feels different. Damascus’s tanks are advancing from multiple sides, tightening the neighborhoods in a vice. “The population is resilient, but when the military operation was announced some families left. Others remained, like mine.”
The battle is ferocious and deeply asymmetric. The internal security forces, the Asayish, are resisting with light weapons: the heavy ones were moved east of the Euphrates in April, along with the SDF, following the agreement of April 1 between the administration of the neighborhoods and the Damascus authorities. This milestone was supposed to mark the demilitarization of Aleppo.
Or so it was hoped.
In the afternoon of January 8, the Asayish attempted a counter-offensive toward the Syriac quarter to slow the government advance. During the night, however, some streets of Ashrafiyah fell into the hands of the attackers.
“It was a very hard night. In the morning we were shocked to see the Amshat in our street. At that point we decided to leave.” Before managing to leave the neighborhood, they were stopped and robbed: “Three hooded people stopped us at gunpoint. They searched everything, took money and valuables. When we protested, they pointed the guns at our heads. They spoke Turkish.”
The Amshat – the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division – have adopted the nom de guerre of their commander, Abu Amsha (born Mohammed al-Jassem). It is one of the factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) affiliated with Turkey, today formally integrated into the Damascus army as the 62nd Division. The group, composed largely of members of the Syrian Turkmen community and Turkish citizens, is subject to international sanctions for involvement in war crimes committed in Afrin and along the coast.
“When they left, we went down to the street. There were hundreds of them, armed. They stopped everyone: they checked the young men, examining their shoulders, looking for signs indicating that they had fought or used weapons. They used racist and sectarian insults.”
In the days following the entry of the militias linked to the transitional government, daily life in the neighborhoods has been marked by pervasive control and widespread repression. “They installed many checkpoints to oppress the population. We witnessed arrests of young people; they beat them and prevented people from filming. They were checking their phones and saying: ‘You are SSD [internal security forces].’”
For fear of further violence, Haifa tried to make herself less recognizable: “I tried to cover my face with the hijab to avoid them hurting us. Afterward we went to the Syriac quarter, because they stopped us from going to Sheikh Maqsoud.”
On the political level, those abuses have a clear significance: “When the agreement of March 10 and then that of April 1 were concluded, the clauses guaranteed the rights of all parties and the safe return of displaced persons to their homes. However, the transitional government did not respect the agreement and did not implement any of its provisions,” says Haifa, referring to the March 10 understanding (which established the general framework) and the April 1 agreement (specifically dedicated to Aleppo), which should have applied the principles of the former and represented the first test for civil and administrative integration and the stabilization of the city. In reality, however, the agreed measures never entered into force and the guarantees promised to the population remained a dead letter.
“We invited them to dialogue multiple times, but they didn’t answer and every time invoked unfounded pretexts. They did not accept the joint administration taking part in the integration process nor political participation in decisions.”
The failure of the agreement is the product of a sum of factors. On one hand, the stall in talks between the DAANES and the transitional government; on the other, a growing reciprocal hostility, sharpened by events in Suwayda and the Syrian coast. In the background, there is the explicit intention of certain parties to prevent any political recognition of the DAANES.
On Sunday, thousands of people gathered in Kobane to welcome the wounded and fallen evacuated from Aleppo. At the funerals, among the crowd there are those who swear revenge. In official declarations, however, DAANES representatives lower the tone and call on Damascus to choose the path of dialogue instead of continuing the escalation. For the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo, however, the future holds out little hope.
“After all this, we expect the Damascus government to impose control, which does not accept a democratic process.”
The failure of the April 1 agreement certainly does not fuel hopes for a future integration of the entire region. In various cities of the Northeast, demonstrators have lowered the Syrian flag from public buildings in protest. “The clearest example of how this government treats the population is the suffocating siege imposed on the two neighborhoods for months – despite the repeated appeals of residents – whose only crime is having demanded a dignified and safe life, free of racism.”
Haifa Mohammed is 44 years old. She is one of many people forced to abandon Aleppo due to the intensifying attacks against the city’s Kurdish neighborhoods. “I had lived in Aleppo for eight years, after being displaced from Afrin. My family and I lived in the Ashrafiyah neighborhood.”
This neighborhood, along with Sheikh Maqsoud, has long been one of the main places to settle for people expelled from other areas of Northern Syria – particularly from Afrin after the Turkish occupation in 2018. It is a neighborhood of mixed demographic composition, organized according to the civil institutions of the Autonomous Administration (DAANES).
“In recent months the two neighborhoods were hit by occasional attacks. Every time they were defended by the Internal Security Forces.” Those episodes presaged the current escalation, which began on January 6, with a progressive intensification of violence that in recent weeks has moved from intermittent incursions to systematic attacks, making it increasingly impossible to stay in the two neighborhoods for many families. “This time the attack was on a large scale: artillery, tanks, drones, snipers.”
The Ministry of Defense of the Syrian transitional government declared the “positions” of the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) to be legitimate military targets. According to the DAANES, this is a foretold war of extermination.
On the map of targets circulated by the Ministry, vast residential areas were included, including the only hospital in Sheikh Maqsoud. In a few hours, the skies of Aleppo filled with Grad rockets, artillery rounds and suicide drones. “We took refuge in the basement and came out only to get necessities. The noises were deafening; the shells fell indiscriminately. The children were afraid; we couldn’t sleep.”
The inhabitants of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah have already been through 15 years of civil war: the siege of Aleppo, the embargo imposed first by the regime of Bashar al-Assad and then by the transitional government. But this time it feels different. Damascus’s tanks are advancing from multiple sides, tightening the neighborhoods in a vice. “The population is resilient, but when the military operation was announced some families left. Others remained, like mine.”
The battle is ferocious and deeply asymmetric. The internal security forces, the Asayish, are resisting with light weapons: the heavy ones were moved east of the Euphrates in April, along with the SDF, following the agreement of April 1 between the administration of the neighborhoods and the Damascus authorities. This milestone was supposed to mark the demilitarization of Aleppo.
Or so it was hoped.
In the afternoon of January 8, the Asayish attempted a counter-offensive toward the Syriac quarter to slow the government advance. During the night, however, some streets of Ashrafiyah fell into the hands of the attackers.
“It was a very hard night. In the morning we were shocked to see the Amshat in our street. At that point we decided to leave.” Before managing to leave the neighborhood, they were stopped and robbed: “Three hooded people stopped us at gunpoint. They searched everything, took money and valuables. When we protested, they pointed the guns at our heads. They spoke Turkish.”
The Amshat – the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division – have adopted the nom de guerre of their commander, Abu Amsha (born Mohammed al-Jassem). It is one of the factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) affiliated with Turkey, today formally integrated into the Damascus army as the 62nd Division. The group, composed largely of members of the Syrian Turkmen community and Turkish citizens, is subject to international sanctions for involvement in war crimes committed in Afrin and along the coast.
“When they left, we went down to the street. There were hundreds of them, armed. They stopped everyone: they checked the young men, examining their shoulders, looking for signs indicating that they had fought or used weapons. They used racist and sectarian insults.”
In the days following the entry of the militias linked to the transitional government, daily life in the neighborhoods has been marked by pervasive control and widespread repression. “They installed many checkpoints to oppress the population. We witnessed arrests of young people; they beat them and prevented people from filming. They were checking their phones and saying: ‘You are SSD [internal security forces].’”
For fear of further violence, Haifa tried to make herself less recognizable: “I tried to cover my face with the hijab to avoid them hurting us. Afterward we went to the Syriac quarter, because they stopped us from going to Sheikh Maqsoud.”
On the political level, those abuses have a clear significance: “When the agreement of March 10 and then that of April 1 were concluded, the clauses guaranteed the rights of all parties and the safe return of displaced persons to their homes. However, the transitional government did not respect the agreement and did not implement any of its provisions,” says Haifa, referring to the March 10 understanding (which established the general framework) and the April 1 agreement (specifically dedicated to Aleppo), which should have applied the principles of the former and represented the first test for civil and administrative integration and the stabilization of the city. In reality, however, the agreed measures never entered into force and the guarantees promised to the population remained a dead letter.
“We invited them to dialogue multiple times, but they didn’t answer and every time invoked unfounded pretexts. They did not accept the joint administration taking part in the integration process nor political participation in decisions.”
The failure of the agreement is the product of a sum of factors. On one hand, the stall in talks between the DAANES and the transitional government; on the other, a growing reciprocal hostility, sharpened by events in Suwayda and the Syrian coast. In the background, there is the explicit intention of certain parties to prevent any political recognition of the DAANES.
On Sunday, thousands of people gathered in Kobane to welcome the wounded and fallen evacuated from Aleppo. At the funerals, among the crowd there are those who swear revenge. In official declarations, however, DAANES representatives lower the tone and call on Damascus to choose the path of dialogue instead of continuing the escalation. For the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo, however, the future holds out little hope.
“After all this, we expect the Damascus government to impose control, which does not accept a democratic process.”
The failure of the April 1 agreement certainly does not fuel hopes for a future integration of the entire region. In various cities of the Northeast, demonstrators have lowered the Syrian flag from public buildings in protest. “The clearest example of how this government treats the population is the suffocating siege imposed on the two neighborhoods for months – despite the repeated appeals of residents – whose only crime is having demanded a dignified and safe life, free of racism.”
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/haifa-lassedio-di-aleppo-e-la-fuga-sotto-il-tiro-dei-fucili on 2026-01-16
January 26, 2026
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Fighting in northern and northeastern Syria (Rojava) must stop to allow humanitarian workers to reach civilians, a senior UN refugee agency official told Rudaw on Monday, adding that more than 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced amid renewed insecurity.
Rula Amin, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the Middle East and North Africa, said that “more than 4,000 families are sheltering in collective centers in [Rojava’s eastern] Hasaka province alone,” while thousands more are staying with relatives or host communities.
She added that “according to some statistics, the total number of displaced persons exceeds one hundred thousand in northeast Syria, but the figures are not accurate,” warning that displacement will continue as long as security uncertainty persists.
The latest wave of displacement has unfolded despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the US, which took effect on Tuesday and was intended to last 15 days to facilitate the transfer of Islamic State (ISIS) detainees from prisons run by Rojava’s de facto army, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to Iraq.
The truce followed deadly clashes that erupted in mid-January, after the Syrian Arab Army and affiliated armed groups advanced into areas previously liberated from ISIS by the SDF.
Nonetheless, on Monday, the Kurdish-led forces accused Damascus and affiliated militants of violating the ceasefire at least 20 times since its announcement. The SDF also accused these groups of carrying out a “massacre” near Kobane, as fighting escalated near the symbolic Kurdish city in northern Syria and across parts of the Hasaka countryside.
“What displaced persons and all civilians in Syria need most is safety and security,” Amin said, adding that “stopping the fighting and reducing security tensions is the greatest demand of all Syrians and displaced persons.”
UNHCR has been operating in Syria for years, providing assistance to people forced to flee fighting and violence, Amin told Rudaw, lamenting that ongoing instability and movement restrictions continue to limit humanitarian access.
“The people there, trapped in this complex security situation, need water, food, and electricity. Their needs are great, and everyone must act to provide for them,” Amin said.
Harsh winter conditions have intensified suffering and reduced families’ ability to cope with displacement, she added, affirming, however, that UNHCR teams will remain on the ground in Qamishli, Hasaka, Deir ez-Zor, and Raqqa until conditions improve and despite funding shortages.
Of note, Qamishli in Hasaka has increasingly become a primary destination for displaced Kurds fleeing front-line areas and newly contested territories, with unofficial figures suggesting that around 5,000 people have arrived in the city over the past 10 days.
The following is the transcript of the full interview with Rula Amin:
Rudaw: What are you doing to support displaced people in northeast Syria?
Rula Amin: The commission [UNHCR] has been on the ground in Syria for years, helping everyone who needs assistance, especially those who were forced to flee from battles and war during the past years, and now they are at the core of our work. The commission works on multiple fronts, trying to reach them with what we describe as needs, sometimes life-saving relief supplies - there are winter necessities, blankets, mattresses, winter clothing. My colleagues on the ground in Syria are also working to protect these displaced persons who were forced to flee their homes in search of safety and security.
We try to reach everyone we can, but of course, you realize that the situation on the ground is complex, the security situation is unstable, and this limits freedom of movement and our ability to reach everyone. One of the key things that the commission urges and encourages all parties to do is to secure safe routes for all relief organization workers so they can reach these people. Yesterday, there was a convoy belonging to the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations with 24 trucks loaded with food, basic relief supplies, winter clothing, blankets, covers, winter necessities, plastic sheeting for shelters and tents.
All of this was headed yesterday from Aleppo to Kobane and Ain al-Arab, and this was done in coordination with all parties, especially the Syrian government and authorities there. We work so that there will be other convoys because the situation there is very difficult, and the people there trapped in this complex security situation, need water, need food, need electricity. Their needs are great, and everyone must move to provide them with these needs.
Of course, what displaced persons and all civilians in Syria need most is safety and security. I mean, stopping the battles and reducing security tension is the biggest demand of all Syrians and displaced persons, of course. Harm to civilians during these times must be avoided, harming them must be avoided, their protection must be guaranteed, and assistance must reach them.
Do you have any information on the situation of Kobane and its people, alongside the people who seek shelter there?
Of course, I'm talking about the security situation, but their situation is, of course, difficult. We're talking about a situation where, according to reports we receive, there are power outages, internet outages, sometimes water shortages - they need food, need blankets, winter necessities. We know now it's the height of winter, meaning there are harsh, cold conditions, there is snow, and this means people's needs become greater and their ability to cope with displacement becomes less, so helping them is very, very, very necessary.
The situation, as you know, is complex - there are movement restrictions, it's not easy to reach this area, but we're trying and working to have other convoys in addition to the convoy that arrived yesterday to provide more assistance.
How is your work progress in establishing a safe passage? What obstacles are you facing?
[in English] Of course, you know to transport aid, whether to people in Kobane and Ain al-Arab or northeast Syria, where we have thousands of people, who … [in Arabic] to relay… I am speaking in English because the translator translates in English. But relaying this assistance, considering the security situation, is not easy. There is a concentrated military presence on the roads, there are obstacles, and the displaced find difficulty in transporting and moving. There are more than 140 in Hasaka; they are present in more than 140, what we call, collective shelters, but there is… extreme cold, they need relief supplies and food. We try to reach them, but the matter is not easy.
We coordinate with all sides on the ground, and we always urge them to provide security for the relief organizations so we can reach everyone. The security situation is stable now with the ceasefire, but most of the displaced people and residents of northeast Syria are afraid and anxious. They are not sure how things will turn out. Will fighting be renewed? Will the ceasefire be upheld? When will they be able to return to their homes? Will their displacement period be extended? This leads to a lot of anxiety and tension between the families. They need heaters, they need… the congestion is also a matter that largely affects their ability to adapt. That is why we say that we need the shooting fighting to stop, ensuring safety and security in Syria. This is the demand, most likely, of all Syrians. You know that after years of war and battles, the people are exhausted. There are more than seven million displaced people all over Syria, and they have a lot of needs.
The biggest need is stability, for security and safety to be established, for them to feel safe and be able to return to their homes, their villages, their cities - this is the wish of most Syrians. Many Syrians long to live in peace, to rebuild their homes, rebuild their lives. Therefore, the commission, in its dialogue with parties inside Syria, with parties outside Syria that have influence or fund relief organizations, always emphasizes that establishing security and safety in Syria and restoring stability is the biggest demand of all Syrians. Even displaced Syrians always long to rebuild their lives, but they need support and need a stop to all these worrying matters that tamper with their security - they want a permanent ceasefire, they want political solutions, they want to rebuild their villages and cities, and to send their children to schools safely. Of course, this is the demand of most Syrians, and efforts must be combined in this direction.
There are some reports of people dying due to the cold, including children. What are your statistics on deaths due to the dire humanitarian conditions, and how many of them are children?
Regarding the death of these children due to cold, unfortunately, we don't have confirmed reports, and I cannot confirm these reports, but what I can confirm is that any displaced person, any person trapped, any family trapped in an area with fighting or security tension - the challenges are great. They don't have sufficient supplies to strengthen and protect their children from cold, to protect their children from battles, from bullets, from bombs. They want to protect their families as a first goal, secure food for them, secure warmth for them, secure heaters, gas, kerosene - all basic demands. The snowstorm and rain increase the difficulty of their situation, and their needs will intensify, and there will be great suffering. Therefore, we always emphasize and repeat: stop the battles, reach political solutions, protect civilians, secure them, and secure assistance to them - this must be the priority.
The situation is very difficult. May God help these people, especially the displaced among them. I mean, to be in a tent or shelter in these extremely cold days is very exhausting and tiring and leads to catastrophe.
What is the number of displaced people?
You mean in northeastern Syria?
In general, yes.
Yes, in the situation, there are, of course, thousands of families forced to be displaced. There are more than 4,000 families in shelters in Hasaka; there are thousands of families being hosted by their families, relatives, friends - meaning they are in cities and villages. The number, according to some statistics, exceeds one hundred thousand, but the figures are not accurate, and every day this security tension continues, and there is uncertainty about stability, more people will be forced to be displaced.
We were working before these events to encourage people and help them return to their homes and villages. Now we have a new wave of displacement in Syria, and this is the last thing we wanted. Efforts must focus on stopping displacement and stopping the battles that force people to leave their homes. On the contrary, establishing security and working on security stability and providing safety and security for families means they will be able to return to their villages and cities, and this is the broader goal.
Until that happens, we are on the ground - my colleagues are in Qamishli, in Hasakah, in Deir ez-Zor, in Raqqa, trying to reach everyone who needs assistance. But of course, as you know, there is a shortage of funding, and the security situation on the roads perhaps doesn't help in reaching everyone who needs assistance quickly, but we're trying and will continue to reach everyone if we can.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Fighting in northern and northeastern Syria (Rojava) must stop to allow humanitarian workers to reach civilians, a senior UN refugee agency official told Rudaw on Monday, adding that more than 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced amid renewed insecurity.
Rula Amin, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the Middle East and North Africa, said that “more than 4,000 families are sheltering in collective centers in [Rojava’s eastern] Hasaka province alone,” while thousands more are staying with relatives or host communities.
She added that “according to some statistics, the total number of displaced persons exceeds one hundred thousand in northeast Syria, but the figures are not accurate,” warning that displacement will continue as long as security uncertainty persists.
The latest wave of displacement has unfolded despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the US, which took effect on Tuesday and was intended to last 15 days to facilitate the transfer of Islamic State (ISIS) detainees from prisons run by Rojava’s de facto army, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to Iraq.
The truce followed deadly clashes that erupted in mid-January, after the Syrian Arab Army and affiliated armed groups advanced into areas previously liberated from ISIS by the SDF.
Nonetheless, on Monday, the Kurdish-led forces accused Damascus and affiliated militants of violating the ceasefire at least 20 times since its announcement. The SDF also accused these groups of carrying out a “massacre” near Kobane, as fighting escalated near the symbolic Kurdish city in northern Syria and across parts of the Hasaka countryside.
“What displaced persons and all civilians in Syria need most is safety and security,” Amin said, adding that “stopping the fighting and reducing security tensions is the greatest demand of all Syrians and displaced persons.”
UNHCR has been operating in Syria for years, providing assistance to people forced to flee fighting and violence, Amin told Rudaw, lamenting that ongoing instability and movement restrictions continue to limit humanitarian access.
“The people there, trapped in this complex security situation, need water, food, and electricity. Their needs are great, and everyone must act to provide for them,” Amin said.
Harsh winter conditions have intensified suffering and reduced families’ ability to cope with displacement, she added, affirming, however, that UNHCR teams will remain on the ground in Qamishli, Hasaka, Deir ez-Zor, and Raqqa until conditions improve and despite funding shortages.
Of note, Qamishli in Hasaka has increasingly become a primary destination for displaced Kurds fleeing front-line areas and newly contested territories, with unofficial figures suggesting that around 5,000 people have arrived in the city over the past 10 days.
The following is the transcript of the full interview with Rula Amin:
Rudaw: What are you doing to support displaced people in northeast Syria?
Rula Amin: The commission [UNHCR] has been on the ground in Syria for years, helping everyone who needs assistance, especially those who were forced to flee from battles and war during the past years, and now they are at the core of our work. The commission works on multiple fronts, trying to reach them with what we describe as needs, sometimes life-saving relief supplies - there are winter necessities, blankets, mattresses, winter clothing. My colleagues on the ground in Syria are also working to protect these displaced persons who were forced to flee their homes in search of safety and security.
We try to reach everyone we can, but of course, you realize that the situation on the ground is complex, the security situation is unstable, and this limits freedom of movement and our ability to reach everyone. One of the key things that the commission urges and encourages all parties to do is to secure safe routes for all relief organization workers so they can reach these people. Yesterday, there was a convoy belonging to the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations with 24 trucks loaded with food, basic relief supplies, winter clothing, blankets, covers, winter necessities, plastic sheeting for shelters and tents.
All of this was headed yesterday from Aleppo to Kobane and Ain al-Arab, and this was done in coordination with all parties, especially the Syrian government and authorities there. We work so that there will be other convoys because the situation there is very difficult, and the people there trapped in this complex security situation, need water, need food, need electricity. Their needs are great, and everyone must move to provide them with these needs.
Of course, what displaced persons and all civilians in Syria need most is safety and security. I mean, stopping the battles and reducing security tension is the biggest demand of all Syrians and displaced persons, of course. Harm to civilians during these times must be avoided, harming them must be avoided, their protection must be guaranteed, and assistance must reach them.
Do you have any information on the situation of Kobane and its people, alongside the people who seek shelter there?
Of course, I'm talking about the security situation, but their situation is, of course, difficult. We're talking about a situation where, according to reports we receive, there are power outages, internet outages, sometimes water shortages - they need food, need blankets, winter necessities. We know now it's the height of winter, meaning there are harsh, cold conditions, there is snow, and this means people's needs become greater and their ability to cope with displacement becomes less, so helping them is very, very, very necessary.
The situation, as you know, is complex - there are movement restrictions, it's not easy to reach this area, but we're trying and working to have other convoys in addition to the convoy that arrived yesterday to provide more assistance.
How is your work progress in establishing a safe passage? What obstacles are you facing?
[in English] Of course, you know to transport aid, whether to people in Kobane and Ain al-Arab or northeast Syria, where we have thousands of people, who … [in Arabic] to relay… I am speaking in English because the translator translates in English. But relaying this assistance, considering the security situation, is not easy. There is a concentrated military presence on the roads, there are obstacles, and the displaced find difficulty in transporting and moving. There are more than 140 in Hasaka; they are present in more than 140, what we call, collective shelters, but there is… extreme cold, they need relief supplies and food. We try to reach them, but the matter is not easy.
We coordinate with all sides on the ground, and we always urge them to provide security for the relief organizations so we can reach everyone. The security situation is stable now with the ceasefire, but most of the displaced people and residents of northeast Syria are afraid and anxious. They are not sure how things will turn out. Will fighting be renewed? Will the ceasefire be upheld? When will they be able to return to their homes? Will their displacement period be extended? This leads to a lot of anxiety and tension between the families. They need heaters, they need… the congestion is also a matter that largely affects their ability to adapt. That is why we say that we need the shooting fighting to stop, ensuring safety and security in Syria. This is the demand, most likely, of all Syrians. You know that after years of war and battles, the people are exhausted. There are more than seven million displaced people all over Syria, and they have a lot of needs.
The biggest need is stability, for security and safety to be established, for them to feel safe and be able to return to their homes, their villages, their cities - this is the wish of most Syrians. Many Syrians long to live in peace, to rebuild their homes, rebuild their lives. Therefore, the commission, in its dialogue with parties inside Syria, with parties outside Syria that have influence or fund relief organizations, always emphasizes that establishing security and safety in Syria and restoring stability is the biggest demand of all Syrians. Even displaced Syrians always long to rebuild their lives, but they need support and need a stop to all these worrying matters that tamper with their security - they want a permanent ceasefire, they want political solutions, they want to rebuild their villages and cities, and to send their children to schools safely. Of course, this is the demand of most Syrians, and efforts must be combined in this direction.
There are some reports of people dying due to the cold, including children. What are your statistics on deaths due to the dire humanitarian conditions, and how many of them are children?
Regarding the death of these children due to cold, unfortunately, we don't have confirmed reports, and I cannot confirm these reports, but what I can confirm is that any displaced person, any person trapped, any family trapped in an area with fighting or security tension - the challenges are great. They don't have sufficient supplies to strengthen and protect their children from cold, to protect their children from battles, from bullets, from bombs. They want to protect their families as a first goal, secure food for them, secure warmth for them, secure heaters, gas, kerosene - all basic demands. The snowstorm and rain increase the difficulty of their situation, and their needs will intensify, and there will be great suffering. Therefore, we always emphasize and repeat: stop the battles, reach political solutions, protect civilians, secure them, and secure assistance to them - this must be the priority.
The situation is very difficult. May God help these people, especially the displaced among them. I mean, to be in a tent or shelter in these extremely cold days is very exhausting and tiring and leads to catastrophe.
What is the number of displaced people?
You mean in northeastern Syria?
In general, yes.
Yes, in the situation, there are, of course, thousands of families forced to be displaced. There are more than 4,000 families in shelters in Hasaka; there are thousands of families being hosted by their families, relatives, friends - meaning they are in cities and villages. The number, according to some statistics, exceeds one hundred thousand, but the figures are not accurate, and every day this security tension continues, and there is uncertainty about stability, more people will be forced to be displaced.
We were working before these events to encourage people and help them return to their homes and villages. Now we have a new wave of displacement in Syria, and this is the last thing we wanted. Efforts must focus on stopping displacement and stopping the battles that force people to leave their homes. On the contrary, establishing security and working on security stability and providing safety and security for families means they will be able to return to their villages and cities, and this is the broader goal.
Until that happens, we are on the ground - my colleagues are in Qamishli, in Hasakah, in Deir ez-Zor, in Raqqa, trying to reach everyone who needs assistance. But of course, as you know, there is a shortage of funding, and the security situation on the roads perhaps doesn't help in reaching everyone who needs assistance quickly, but we're trying and will continue to reach everyone if we can.
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