Syria (Turkey cross-border)

Overview

At least 224,000 civilians, including 29,000 children, have died as a result of conflict since the civil war began in 2011. ?An estimated 11.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. ?6.2 million are internally displaced and 6.8 million refugees have left the country, mostly to neighbouring Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.  ?

The humanitarian needs in Syria are severe across all sectors, with health, shelter, and food needs most critical in areas where fighting continues, including governorates in the northwest and northeast of the country. Protection interventions are required countrywide. Access for humanitarians remains extremely problematic, even in areas retaken by the Syrian Arab Army. ?

Since late 2015, the Syrian Arab Army has been slowly regaining territory across the country. With only governorates in the northeast and northwest remaining outside government control, the war is widely seen as entering its final and possibly most violent stages. Turkish, Russian, Iranian, American, and Syrian troops are stationed inside Syria, as well as a range of non-state armed groups ranging from more moderate opposition groups to Salafist Jihadi groups. 

Latest Developments

ACAPS' team is daily monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Find more information related to the outbreak.

For more information on the humanitarian impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, please see the relevant paragraph below.

30/04/2020: On 28 April a bomb exploded in the central market of Afrin, Aleppo governorate, killing at least 43 civilians including 11 children, with another 40 people wounded. Buildings and shops have been damaged, potentially jeopardising the livelihoods of local families. Under Turkish control since March 2018, the city has witnessed 51 violent episodes since the beginning of 2020, including 26 incidents of remote violence and explosions.?

02/04/2020: A conflict over resources such as water and electricity between Turkish-backed and Kurdish actors is ongoing in Al Hasakeh governorate. Water provision from the Allouk water pump that normally reaches 460,000 people in the governorate, including three camps, came again to a halt in the last week of March. This has hindered sanitation efforts, such as handwashing, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and has put humanitarian operations under further strain. Water trucking has begun, but meets only half of the needs. The Al Hol and Areesha camps have been affected by the water shortage, and already had a higher risk of outbreak due to overcrowding and poor living conditions. Humanitarian access in northeast Syria is restricted since the closure of the Al Yaroubiah crossing with Iraq in January 2020 cut off an entry point for health supplies.?

20/02/2020: Almost a third (900,000) of the 3 million people residing in the north-west of Syria has been displaced since 1 December 2019. Several have experienced secondary displacement as they fled to Idleb from other conflict areas. While the Turkish border remains closed and clashes draw further north in the governorate, IDP camps have reached their full capacity and IDPs are filling other public spaces, including outdoors. The number of civilian casualties is growing due to indiscriminate violence and the persisting freezing temperatures of the Syrian winter. Despite funding allocations for the humanitarian response, as well as regional prepositioning of aid, aid actors are struggling to provide a timely response.?

For more information on the humanitarian impact of the conflict in north-west Syria, please see the relevant paragraph below.

16/01/2020: On 10 January the UN Security Council (UNSC) approved resolution 2504 prolonging the delivery of UN humanitarian aid through the border crossings of Bab al Salam and Bab al Hawa between Turkey and north-west Syria just before its final deadline. Following the resolution aid will no longer be delivered through two additional crossings, the Jaber-Naseeb crossing with Jordan and the Al Yaroubia crossing with Iraq. This increases the workload for humanitarian operators within north-east Syria, with the closure of an aid lifeline which had been active since 2014. While in previous UNSC resolutions delivery of cross border aid was authorised for one whole year, this time operations have been allowed for a reduced period of six months. As of November 2019, 4 million Syrians were benefiting from cross-border aid deliveries, 1.3 million in the North East only, through the Al Yaroubia crossing. ?