Russia hands over Tal Rifaat to the Turkish forces and the gunmen loyal to them
In the light of the ignorance of the UN to their tragedy… hundreds of thousands of people displaced from Afrin fall between the hammer of Turkey and the anvil of Russia
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the Russian forces located in Tal Rifaat, in the northern countryside of Aleppo, started to hand over the town, which the Russian forces had withdrawn to before the start of Operation “Olive Branch” on the 20th of January 2018, to the Turkish forces and their allied factions operating within Operation “Olive Branch”, where the Turkish forces entered the town which the Syria Democratic Forces whose main pillar is the YPG, controlled in early 2016, while this handover which is taking place in the wake of a Russian – Turkish agreement, came to escalate the fears for the lives of hundreds of thousands of Syrian citizens who displaced from Afrin area, as a result of the Turkish attack, and hundreds of whom were prevented to return to Afrin area during the past few days, where the deployed checkpoints of the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation have not let them return their villages, in addition to being prevented by the regime forces.
This humanitarian tragedy of tens of thousands of the displaced people in the areas which Turkey intends to enter, also comes amid shutting the international community’s eyes to the tragedy of the displaced people of Afrin, and its ignorance to the cries the sufferings, with the lack of aid provided by the humanitarian organization as the batches of aid are not enough except for a group of the displaced people, thousands of whom are still staying in the open, amid fears for their lives amid the Turkish advancement in these areas where the displaced people have resorted to fleeing from the Turkish forces and the factions which attacked Afrin area, these new deteriorated conditions and the return prevention come with the continuation of the first tragedy of the displaced people of the inhabitants of Afrin area, where their humanitarian situation are getting worse day after day, amid bad weather conditions in the area, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the deterioration of the humanitarian conditions of more than 300 thousand displaced people, who have displaced from Afrin city and its villages to the northern countryside of Aleppo, where they spred in the areas where the militiamen loyal to the regime are located, including tens of thousands of families that reached the towns of Nubl and Al-Zahraa in the same countryside, and tens of people displaced from Afrin asserted to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the aid provided to them was shy and too little and did not amount to the level of the tragedy, where the aid of the Red Crescent was provided in batches, and the medical services were also provided, but they was not enough except for a group of the displaced people, while there are thousands of citizens still staying in the open as a result of the lack of the tents, after the towns of Nubl and Al-Zahraa and the villages and towns in the northern countryside of Aleppo became crowded with the people displaced from Afrin, many of whom have found it difficult to rent a house because of doubling the rents of the houses, and the continuation of the regime forces to prevent citizens displaced from Afrin, of who try to displace to Aleppo city, to reach it, increased these tragic humanitarian situations, where several reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the checkpoints of the regime forces are continuing to impose fees on the citizens desire to reach Aleppo city, where about 1000$ is imposed for each single person, while others are helped to escape in different ways through the regime’s checkpoints inside Aleppo city, in return for large sums of money, where the residents complained to the SOHR about these situations, and the ongoing prevention of the regime’s checkpoints to reach Aleppo city despite the tragic humanitarian situation in the northern countryside of Aleppo, which is crowded with thousands of people displaced from Afrin city and its villages.
And displaced people from Afrin told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that tens of families have tried to return within the past 48 hour from the northern countryside of Aleppo, and the areas in which the regime forces deployed before the control of Afrin city by “Olive Branch” Operation Forces, however, these families have not been able to cross towards the areas controlled by the Turkish forces and factions, as they were prevented from marching towards Afrin.
Local and other reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the prevention of return to Afrin was carried out by “Olive Branch” Operation Forces and by the gunmen loyal to the regime, and the locals confirmed that those who managed to reach the first checkpoints of “Olive Branch” Operation Forces were prevented from entering the area and forced to return to where they came from, while checkpoints of the gunmen loyal to the regime prevented other families from reaching the outskirts of Afrin area, and they were forced to return to the areas they stayed in after they were displaced, while SOHR received information from reliable sources that about 48 hours ago, a checkpoint of YPG prevented civilians from getting out of the northern countryside of Aleppo towards their villages and homes in Afrin area.
And the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights renews its calls on the UN, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to secure the return of the displaced people of Afrin area, to their houses, villages and towns and to Afrin city, and to oversee their arrival to the areas they have displaced from in Afrin countryside, especially to the border villages, as the SOHR obtained reliable information from several intersected sources, that citizens who tried to reach their border villages with Turkey were arrested by the Turkish forces and the factions operating within Operation “Olive Branch”, and this call comes after the Syrian Observatory received information about the existence of an agreed Russian-Turkish plan, to carry out a demographic change based on the settlement of other residents in Afrin area instead of the original residents who displaced and stay in the open in the northern countryside of Aleppo, and the Turkish occupation forces that control the area, have to secure ways back for the residents for fear over the lives of the people coming back of the mine explosions, these calls also comes after Russia had withdrawn their forces to give the chance for the Turkish forces to advance and hade the area over to them, after they had withdraw from Afrin as a green line for the Turkish attack, also the regime forces which used to be located in the same area withdrew simultaneously with the Russians to hand the area over to Turkey.
It is noteworthy that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published yesterday that a meeting took place in the northern countryside of Aleppo between the Turks and the Russians, and the sources informed the Syrian Observatory that this meeting led to an agreement providing for the handover of Tal Rifaat and surrounding villages that are currently under the control of YPG, to fighters of the Syrian the rebel and Islamic factions loyal to the Turkish Forces within “Olive Branch” Operation, this agreement comes even though there are more than 50000 people in Tal Rifaat town of who have been displaced from Afrin area, and they face an unknown fate after this agreement.