For over two weeks, the so-called Syrian transitional government has been increasingly escalating its attacks on the self-governing areas in northern and eastern Syria. The massacres in Aleppo had already led to huge movements of IDPs heading north. With each additional region attacked, the displacement is also increasing. According to the German representative office of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), hundreds of thousands of people are acutely threatened by hunger, cold, lack of medical care, and further violence. The besieged city of Kobanê is cut off from supplies.
Limited capacity
According to the representative office, more than 170,000 people have been displaced from their homes since the beginning of January, 18,000 of them from Raqqa and Tabqa within just a few days. “The expulsions are taking place under great time pressure and often without the possibility of taking personal belongings with them. Many families have been displaced several times within a few years. Shelters, reception camps, and municipal facilities are already overcrowded.”
Many people are seeking refuge, especially in the canton of Cizîrê. Although there is hardly any capacity left to take in more displaced persons, the municipalities are preparing for further waves of refugees. Religious institutions and community initiatives are trying to provide makeshift assistance, but are reaching their limits.
Kobanê: Siege and humanitarian crisis
The situation in Kobanê is particularly dramatic, where around 150,000 people are effectively trapped by the military siege of the Syrian army, Islamist militias, and Turkish occupiers. The humanitarian situation is correspondingly dire: escape routes are blocked, electricity and water supplies are largely interrupted, there are shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, and access for humanitarian organizations is restricted or completely blocked. And all this in the cold of winter.
Humanitarian aid blocked
“Access for humanitarian actors is severely restricted or completely blocked in large parts of northern and eastern Syria. Supplies to prisons and detention centers holding thousands of ISIS prisoners are also not guaranteed. The blockade of supply routes is further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and poses considerable security risks,” said the DAANES representative Khaled Dervish.
Khaled Dervish makes clear demands: “What is needed is immediate and guaranteed humanitarian access to all affected regions. A humanitarian corridor to Kobanê is required. The civilian population must be protected and the transitional government must ensure an end to the expulsions. International protection is needed for the Kurdish areas in Syria.”