Enab Baladi – Idlib

With tears of joy, Umm Muhammad met her son Muhammad, whom she had not seen for 11 years due to his forced displacement to the city of Idlib. She arrived in northern Syria last July, crossing the front lines between regime and opposition-controlled areas.

The lady endured a week-long arduous journey, starting from Damascus through the services of smugglers who manage smuggling operations, entering through roads from rural Aleppo.

The 54-year-old lady came to Idlib to see her 35-year-old son Muhammad, meet his wife and children, stay for some time, and then return to her home and family in Damascus.

The journey wasn’t easy, as she faced difficulties during the trip, such as having to walk long distances, the lack of good resting spots, and being subject to theft.

Umm Muhammad told Enab Baladi that her son was wanted by the Syrian regime’s security apparatus back in 2012, forcing him to move to Daraya in rural Damascus, which was beyond the regime’s reach.

Since Daraya was besieged and its residents forcibly displaced to Idlib in 2016, the mother has been wishing to reunite with her son.

She mentioned that her son got married and had three children after arriving in Idlib. Although she communicated with him through video calls, it wasn’t enough to ease her worries and quench the fire of longing in her heart.

Many citizens who want to come to Idlib to see their relatives find themselves compelled to cross smuggling routes due to the difficulty of passing through regime checkpoints, putting them at the mercy of smugglers.

Dedicated travel offices

Several offices in Idlib facilitate travel from regime-held areas to Idlib and the north as a whole, and vice versa. Many offices give travelers the choice between traveling regularly or through smuggling.

The difference between the regular routes (routes agreed upon by the controlling parties) and smuggling routes lies in cost. The former is cheaper, approximately $250, and requires the traveler to send an ID photo a week in advance to the office coordinating the travel matters.

Traveling through regular routes takes about three days, starting from Aleppo every Tuesday, where travelers stop at various inspection points of the controlling parties, arriving by Thursday night or Friday morning.

Regular routes are not suitable for young men from regime-held areas wanted by security branches or those who have evaded compulsory service. They are also not suitable for the elderly who cannot endure the hardship of a three-day journey.

Smuggling routes take a maximum of 36 hours (if it involves longer walking intervals between front lines) and often take less. Their cost ranges between $350 and $500. Some travelers, however, have to discard their luggage during the walk.

These offices guarantee the safety of luggage on regular routes as long as it is minimal. For smuggling routes, offices advise against carrying heavy luggage and do not ensure its safety if carried.

Valuables are guaranteed safe by the offices only if handed over before travel.

High costs

Abu Hamza, a displaced person from Homs residing in Idlib (withheld his real name for family security reasons), said his mother visited him in 2023, costing $850 for her arrival and return. He has not yet settled the debts incurred. Her visit lasted for three months.

Abu Hamza mentioned that the plan was for his mother to come through regular routes. He contracted an office, but after her arrival in Aleppo, the office informed him that the regular routes had closed.

This left him with no choice but for his mother to either return or use smuggling routes. He pointed out that office owners exploit citizens’ needs to reap enormous profits.

Syrians live in a worsening economic reality across all controlled areas. Northwest Syria is home to 5.1 million people, 4.2 million of whom need assistance, and 3.4 million face food insecurity, 3.4 million of whom are internally displaced.

Out of the total population, two million reside in camps, according to the United Nations, while local statistics speak of 5.5 to 6 million people in the north.

Government salaries in Idlib’s Salvation Government areas range between $80 and $110, while the daily wage of a worker in northern Syria is, at best, three dollars.

The minimum government salary in regime-controlled areas is 279,000 Syrian pounds ($18.7).

Hardships and exploitation

Travelers to northern Syria endure many hardships, starting from gathering at travel points, covering long unsafe distances on foot, the fear of arrest in all areas they pass through regardless of who controls them, riding non-passenger vehicles, and facing theft.

Abu Muhammad agreed with a smuggler to transport his father from Idlib to Aleppo and then to Damascus after his visit to the north.

Upon his father’s arrival in Aleppo, someone contacted him and took him to a house to wait for the departure moment. He was supposed to stay for a few hours but ended up staying for three days.

Abu Muhammad said the house was not equipped for accommodation, barely having a bathroom and some cushions for people to sit on, with dirt everywhere.

The smuggler confiscated the travelers’ phones to avoid detection by authorities, and the food provided was scarce and spoiled.

The young man mentioned his father suffers from several illnesses requiring timely medications, which he informed the smuggler about, costing additional amounts for special care. However, he was shocked upon his father’s arrival to find out that no care was provided, and he was rushed to the hospital immediately after reaching Damascus.

On September 23, 2022, a woman was killed, and two civilians were injured by a landmine explosion while attempting to cross smuggling routes between regime-controlled areas and the Syrian National Army near Fikha Hamdan village east of Bazaa town in eastern rural Aleppo.

Enab Baladi reported that a landmine exploded among a group of civilians trying to cross to northern Aleppo from regime-controlled areas through smuggling routes, causing injuries.

Despite these travel risks and high costs, the lack of alternatives forces people to endure these hardships to reunite with their parents and children.