Difficult living conditions, destroyed infrastructure, and lack of basic life necessities, shy return of the displaced people of Sahl al-Ghab since the “ceasefire” agreement

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Hama province:

After the beginning of the latest and most violent escalations of its kind at the end of April 2019, the majority of inhabitants of Sahl al-Ghab villages at the northwestern countryside of Hama have displaced, and the villages became almost completely empty of their inhabitants, families headed towards the Syrian north where the displacement camps are scattered along the Syrian-Turkish border. Sahl al-Ghab area is considered one of the areas which are most affected by the aerial and ground bombardment during the recent operation launched by the regime forces and its Russian ally, where the regime forces and their supporting forces were able to go deep in a large area of Sahl al-Ghab and controlled several towns and villages, such as Qal’aat al-Madiq town and the villages of Bab al-Taqa, al-Hamra, al-Sharia, and al-Hwaiz after clashes against armed opposition factions and jihadi groups. And after the relative calm that came as a result of Russia’s declaration of a ceasefire at the end of August; many displaced families from Sahl al-Ghab area gradually returned to their homes, where they are currently suffering from difficult living conditions due to the lack of livelihood necessities of drinking water, electricity, health centers, educational and service facilities, in addition to the large percentage of damage in infrastructure and civilian homes, making it more difficult for them to return.

In a witness by one of the media activists, he says: “intensive aerial and ground bombardment and shelling have displaced tens of thousands of people from Sahl al-Ghab area, entire villages such as al-Shariah, al-Hwaiz, al-Twyna, al-Hawijah, al-Hamra and Bab al-Taqa have become empty of its inhabitants, only 1% of Sahl al-Ghab’s residents were unable to displace because of their poor living condition, they are from the northern villages of Sahl al-Ghab i.e. the villages that are located to the north of al-Ankawi village, while the majority of Sahl al-Ghab population went to Syrian north, where the displacement camps are located on the Syrian – Turkish border, and to the villages and border towns of the northern countryside of Idlib, and since Russia announced the start of a ceasefire at the end of August 2019, and with the absence of warplanes and a relative decrease in shelling; some families started to returning to their homes in several villages of Sahl al-Ghab area under very difficult humanitarian conditions.”

The source in his testimony to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added: “most of the returning families are from the northern villages of Sahl al-Ghab, such as the villages of al-Zaqqum, Qlidin, and al-Deqmaq, as well as the eastern villages such as Qastoun, Zayzoun, and al-Ankawi, and the percentage of the returning families varies in each village, but in general, the village of al-Ankawi is one of the most villages to which the displaced people have returned in the past few days, and the percentage of returnees to each village is estimated to be between 1 to 7 % of the population of each village, and they are currently living in very difficult living conditions, as there is no electricity, no health centers, no service facilities, no schools, amid almost complete absence for the role of the humanitarian organizations, and some volunteers are trying to work individually to improve the living situation in the area, by repairing water and electricity systems, removing rubble, cleaning schools, where 3 schools were opened in each the villages of al-Ankawi and Qlidin, and the civilians are having great difficulty in obtaining food due to the closure of markets, as this is limited to selling them through a mobile car or a small shop, and many are forced to travel long distances to buy them, or even for treatment, and we as well call on humanitarian organizations to immediately activate their role in Sahl al-Ghab area, and to establish facilities for civilians to encourage them to return to their villages and places. “

In a testimony the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights obtained, one of the residents of al-Zaqqum says: “since the beginning of the escalation in the area, me and all my family of five have displaced to camps of Deir Hassan, then to Kafr Takharim town, I have experienced difficult humanitarian conditions because of the high prices of the house rent, the high cost of living in the camp, and the poor service conditions, and I suffered from extreme poverty because I left my main source of income, agriculture, and after the Russian declaration of a ceasefire, I began to think of returning to my village, al-Zaqqum, in Sahl al-Ghab, so I returned to it several days after the truce came into force and because of the great destruction in my house, we moved to live in my son’s house, but it does not stop there, there is no such thing as a life, and the newly returned families are living in difficult conditions, there are no bread furnaces, no health centers, no schools, no markets, I travel a long way to reach the western countryside of Idlib to buy house supplies, the destruction of civilian homes is a major obstacle to their return, it is necessary for the humanitarian organizations to join the efforts in order to improve the situation of the area and provide means of life, so that displaced families can return if the shelling stops completely, as its continuation prevents most of the displaced people from thinking about returning for the time being, while some families are returning to their land, plant it, and harvesting its seasons, because of the difficulty of living in the Syrian north.”