People smuggling operations from Turkey trigger fear among Syrians that Coronavirus pandemic can be transmitted to north-western Syria 

Turkey-Syria border, north of Idlib, is witnessing unusual return movement of Syrians from Turkey to Idlib and northern Aleppo, after paying to smugglers amounts of up to $300.

The Turkish government has imposed quarantine in most cities, leading to a deterioration in economic conditions for most young people who have become unemployed. Unemployment has become a prominent feature in Turkey for young people after large sectors stopped working due to the spread of Coronavirus and imposing domestic quarantine, forcing dozens of young people to return to Syria and escape the difficult economic conditions.

 

People in areas in north-western Syria fear that the virus will be transmitted to their areas through these people coming from Turkey, especially since Turkey records large numbers of infections every day.

Syrian regime’s government has closed “Kassab” the only crossing with Turkey as part of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

Smugglers continue to smuggle people from Syria to Turkey putting people at risk of contracting coronavirus or being shot by Turkish border guards “Jandarma”.

According to the Syrian Observatory documentation, the number of Syrian civilians killed by “Jandarma” forces since the start of the Syrian revolution has risen to 447, 78 of whom were children under the age of eighteen and 44 women over the age of eighteen.