Idlib – Samah Alloush
A few days were the dividing line between forced displacement and the dream of returning to their homes, a dream that has always haunted every Syrian who was forcibly displaced from their city or village after the Syrian regime took control.
The dream became a reality after a battle that shifted the balance and revived life and hope in the hearts of the displaced, as experienced by the fifty-something-year-old Khaled, following the announcement of the Syrian opposition factions regaining control of villages and towns in the Idlib countryside.
On November 27, opposition factions in northern Syria launched the “Deterrence of Aggression” battle against regime forces and their allies, regaining vast areas up to the capital Damascus and leading to Bashar al-Assad’s escape to Moscow on December 8.
Incomplete joy
News of liberating territories from regime control spread quickly, prompting Khaled to hurry to his hometown Ma’ar Shamsha in the al-Ma’arra countryside to kiss its soil and quench his thirst to see his home that he built with his own hands.
Joy quickly faded upon his arrival, as he was shocked by the scale of destruction left by the regime forces over nearly five years. There was no roof, no walls, no furniture—like a “ghost house devoid of spirit,” with debris scattered everywhere.
This pain was felt by Mrs. Marwa after spending hours “on edge,” as she recounts, before the factions took control of the al-Safira area in Aleppo countryside. She and her family went to reclaim the memories and days spent within the confines of her home.
Upon entering the town, sadness consumed them at what had happened to their house; the large walnut tree that they used to sit under in the yard had been uprooted, and the wooden doors of the rooms had been replaced with iron doors, as regime forces had turned the house into a school due to its location and large size.
As for the sixty-something-year-old Mohammed, he was engulfed by sadness, as regime forces uprooted all the olive trees on his land, transforming the soil into barricades for artillery positions in Wadi al-Daif in southern Idlib, saying, “All the toil of my life is gone; I wish they had destroyed the house instead of uprooting the trees, whose ages match mine.”
Years of displacement and war left behind by regime forces have rendered Syrian cities and towns empty of life, as not even trees or stones were spared, and the destroyed homes remained without roofs, walls, windows, and doors, serving as witnesses to the destruction.
Landmines claim lives
The Syrian regime and its allies left fields of landmines after withdrawing from northern Syria, having planted them in homes, lands, and military outposts to kill as many civilians and military personnel as possible.
In recent years, regime forces have become accustomed to planting mines as a form of revenge, hiding them among the rubble or behind doors, amid warnings from military observatories and organizations about the need to be cautious.
The Military Operations Administration for the “Deterrence of Aggression” battle issued a statement on November 28 stating that the newly liberated areas are considered a closed military zone until further notice, to ensure the removal of landmines and military remnants.
It called on everyone to refrain from entering those areas, prioritizing the safety of the civilians until their safe return can be secured. However, many returned, driven by their longing and emotions to see their homes.
The Syria Civil Defence reported that hundreds of villages and towns still have landmines and unexploded ordnance left by the regime.
It noted that its teams are working to survey contaminated areas and remove the danger of these landmines and war remnants to ensure the safety of the residents.
On December 9, the Civil Defence documented the deaths of two civilians and the injury of another in a landmine explosion in their car in the town of Foro in the Hama countryside, noting that its teams retrieved the bodies and transported them to the Jisr al-Shughour Hospital, while the injured were transported by civilians.
The Civil Defence described landmines and cluster bombs leftover from previous bombings as a “deadly legacy from Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its criminal forces, which threatens the lives of all Syrians.”
Displaced individuals are among the most vulnerable to landmine dangers in Syria, as landmines are considered one of the most dangerous remnants of war. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the deaths of 3,471 civilians, including 919 children, due to anti-personnel mines in Syria from 2011 until April 2024.
The Syria Response Coordination Group (SRCG) working in northern Syria called on all humanitarian organizations to expedite humanitarian response operations for the displaced until these families can safely return to their areas.
The team urged humanitarian organizations to begin consolidating efforts and developing necessary plans to enter newly liberated areas to provide humanitarian assistance to residents and new arrivals to these areas.
Before the factions reached the capital Damascus, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported that more than 280,000 people had been displaced from northwestern Syria within days, warning that the number could reach 1.5 million if the escalation continued.
It noted that this displacement caused “one crisis on top of another,” according to a report on December 6, describing the situation in Syria as having reached “a breaking point.” After 13 or 14 years of conflict, more than three million Syrians suffer from severe food insecurity and cannot afford adequate food.