The Military Police under the Syrian Interim Government (SIG) prevented dozens of Syrian families displaced from Lebanon from entering northern Syria at the Aoun al-Dadat crossing in the Aleppo countryside.

Relatives of families stranded at the crossing told Enab Baladi that the Military Police and Turkish soldiers have been preventing families (mostly women and children) from entering the northern region for about three days, while the people desperately need entry into the area.

A woman residing in Idlib explained to Enab Baladi that her relative is still stranded and has a sick child, appealing to the concerned authorities to allow the families to enter.

Relatives of the detained families appealed through local pages to factions, responsible parties, military observatories, and media personnel to open the crossing for around 2000 people stranded, condemning the prevention of their entry.

Enab Baladi obtained a photo and a video showing families, including children and infants, sleeping on the ground in the open air without receiving essential services to protect them from weather fluctuations.

Enab Baladi contacted the Military Police leadership for clarification on the matter and is still awaiting a response.

Displaced Syrians lie on the ground, waiting for permission from the Military Police to enter northwestern Syria – October 3, 2024

Security reasons

The ban also included citizens who usually moved to and from northwestern Syria through the Aoun al-Dadat crossing, coordinated by transport companies.

Assem Melhem, a journalist-activist residing in al-Bab city, has been waiting on the other side since Tuesday, October 1, for his sister and her baby daughter to enter al-Bab city after departing from Homs and reaching the crossing.

Melhem told Enab Baladi that hundreds of civilians are waiting to cross into opposition-controlled areas in northwestern Syria, a large portion of them are Syrians coming from Lebanon, but the Military Police prevent entry due to security checks.

Melhem tried to contact the military factions managing the crossing and the factions operating in the area for help in getting his sister and her baby daughter across, but to no avail.

Melhem remains helpless in face of his sister’s pleas reaching him through WhatsApp, as she complains of her dire situation with her baby, suffering from cold and hunger without services, especially since he advised her to come to northwestern Syria because their mother needs surgery and requires accompaniment.

Melhem’s sister is still waiting now in the open air with her baby for permission to enter, as is the case for hundreds of families coming from various Syrian regions and others fleeing Israeli shelling in Lebanon.

Syrians fleeing death

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the killing of 96 Syrians in Lebanon due to Israeli shelling targeting several Lebanese areas between September 23 and 30.

A report from the Lebanese Disaster Risk Management Unit, issued on Tuesday, stated that about 240,000 people entered Syria between September 23 and 30, including 176,080 Syrians and 63,373 Lebanese.

The Syrians who crossed into Syrian territories have spread across various provinces, with some entering areas under Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control, and others in regime-controlled areas.

Entry into northwestern Syria occurs through the Aoun al-Dadat crossing, connecting the opposition-controlled city of Jarablus and the SDF-controlled city of Manbij in the Aleppo countryside.

Entry into opposition-controlled areas can also occur via smuggling routes managed by some military factions operating in the region, either with regime-controlled areas or SDF-controlled areas.

The Aoun al-Dadat crossing separates areas controlled by the Syrian National Army (SNA) and areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo (Aoun al-Dadat al-Hadath/Facebook)

Not the first time

It is not the first time Syrians have been prevented from entering Aleppo countryside areas (under the Syrian Interim Government control), whether it was the Military Police at the forefront preventing crossing or the factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) or Turkey.

In May 2021, the areas under Interim Government control did not receive Quneitra displaced people until they were allowed to cross transit to the Syrian Salvation Government controlled areas in Idlib after waiting more than 30 hours at the National Army checkpoints.

In May 2018, the Turkish army prevented buses transporting displaced persons from the northern countryside of Homs and southern Damascus into the northern Aleppo countryside due to lack of coordination between Russia and Turkey.

At that time, the displaced convoys returned to the Idlib countryside after being prevented from entering the Aleppo countryside.

The displaced were distributed into two convoys of northern Homs countryside displaced people, and two convoys from southern Damascus as part of the fifth and sixth batches arriving intermittently at that time, amounting to five thousand displaced people.

Route between three areas of control

Civilians wishing to travel to and from opposition-controlled areas must move between three areas of control in Syria.

The areas of control include: regime-controlled areas in the south and west-central Syria, opposition-held areas in northwestern Syria, and SDF-controlled areas in northeastern Syria.

The journey of civilians (escorted travel) starts from regime-controlled areas to Manbij city in the eastern Aleppo countryside under SDF control, and travelers then enter opposition-controlled areas via the Aoun al-Dadat crossing and vice versa.

Aoun al-Dadat: A crossing point for travelers and oil

The Aoun al-Dadat crossing is used for the entry of oil trucks from SDF-controlled areas to opposition-controlled areas, in addition to traveler crossings.

The crossing was reopened in February 2023, between areas under National Army control (opposition areas) and SDF-controlled areas, linking the Syrian National Army-controlled city of Jarablus with SDF-controlled Manbij city in northeastern Aleppo countryside.

The Military Police under the National Army at that time specified several conditions for opening the crossing for individual movement:

• Securing two sponsors with local council identification, complete information about each sponsor will be recorded, and the military sponsor must have a military identity, specifying the kinship degree according to civility (father, son, brother, sister, mother, daughter, wife, husband).
• Providing a copy of the visitor’s personal ID and a recent personal photo.
• Specifying the visit duration as “temporary” for one month and “permanent” for over a month, under which a permanent visitor can obtain a local council identity document.
• Signing a pledge not to enter Turkey, and in the event of doing so, a financial penalty (value not specified) will be imposed.
• Males aged 18 to 30 are prohibited from leaving National Army controlled areas towards SDF and regime-controlled areas.