More than 100,000 people who have been forcibly displaced from southern and central Syria have arrived in Syria’s north in recent weeks, aid workers said. The latest transfers of civilians are part of a string of mass forced displacement operations being carried out by the Assad regime and its allies to bring about a large-scale demographic change in the country.
The Syrian Coalition earlier said that the mass forced displacement of local communities by the Assad regime backed by its Russian and Iranian allies is a war crime and risks impeding the political process in Syria.
Emergency response coordinators in northern Syria said that a total of 102,015 people have so far arrived in Syria’s north. Of these, 83,214 people have been displaced from southern Damascus while the remaining 18,801 people have come from northern rural Homs and southern rural Hama. Assad regime forces, meanwhile, continue to tighten the siege and intensify bombardment of southern Damascus to force the local population out of their homes.
Assad forces and their allied militias are using various types of weapons, including internationally prohibited ones, to force Syrian civilians out of their homes or making them risk their lives if they choose to remain.
The Syrian Coalition strongly condemned the mass forced displacement of local communities as it warned that it serves Iran’s expansionist project in the region. It called on the international community to stop violations against Syrian civilians and activate the UN neutral mechanism to hold war crimes accountable. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
