WEEKLY REPORT 21 – 28 May 2021

KEY DYNAMICS

Presidential elections ...... 2

Assad elected for 4th term ...... 2

IDPs stranded ...... 3

Um Batna families deported ...... 3

Self-Administration, ISIS concerns ...... 4

ISIS continue to attack ...... 4

MERCY CORPS HUMANITARIAN ACCESS WEEKLY REPORT, 21 – 28 May 2021  1 Presidential elections Voter turnout low, contrary to government media reports Assad elected for 4th term Despite pro-government media claiming that Bashar al-Assad has been re-elected president of voter turnout was high, reports from local Syria in a landslide victory, in which he officially sources directly contradict this. Election centers received 95.1% of the votes. The result, although in Syrian government areas were largely empty ultimately unsurprising due to both the lack of save for a few where pro-government citizens viable opposition candidates and expected and Baath party members gathered in front of fraudulency of the elections themselves, did not cameras to welcome government officials going come without disruptions. to vote. Voters were for the most part citizens directly connected to the government and On 26 May, the Syrian Presidential elections compelled to vote; these included Syrian Arab were held in Syrian government areas and Army soldiers and veterans, government government-controlled locations in Self- security and intelligence agency members, Administration areas. More than 12,000 election government employees, Baath party members, centers were opened throughout the day, on university students and union members. which voting stopped at midnight following a five-hour extension. SANA and pro-government Disruptions during the elections media sources reported a high voter turnout in Disruption was seen throughout the country Rural Damascus, As-Sweida, Lattakia, Tartous, during election day particularly in southern Homs, Hama, and Deir-ez-Zor governorates. Syria: In As-Sweida, local sources reported that Moreover, Bashar and Asma al-Assad, president unknown individuals threw a grenade at an and first lady, both cast their votes in the Duma election station in Mazra'a township (Mazra'a municipal building in Duma, symbolically the site subdistrict) in the morning. The station was later of suspected government chemical attacks on forced to close down after an altercation civilians in 2018. Here they congratulated the between the station manager and young men city’s residents for participating in the elections. from the town. In Dar‘a, municipality buildings acting as potential election stations in Namar (Jasim subdistrict), Neimeh (Dar‘a subdistrict), Sayda (Dar‘a subdistrict), and Hara (As- Sanamayn subdistrict) townships came under attack by hand grenades and IEDs. Hundreds of people took part in protests against the elections in Tafas (Mzeireb subdistrict), Nahta (Hrak subdistrict), Busra Esh-Sham (Busra Esh-Sham subdistrict), and Jizeh (Jizeh subdistrict). Re-elected president Bashar al-Assad and the first Moreover, Ash-Shajara (Ash-Shajara lady Asma voting in Duma

MERCY CORPS HUMANITARIAN ACCESS WEEKLY REPORT, 21 – 28 May 2021  2 subdistrict), Hrak (Hrak subdistrict), Jasim result of an agreement between the Quneitra (Jasim subdistrict), and Nawa (Nawa subdistrict) Reconciliation Committee, Dar’a Central went on strike, closing down as a sign of protest. Committee, community leaders and the government’s Military Intelligence Directorate Self-Administration blocks voters from in Quneitra, known as Sa'sa' Branch, with government areas Russian representation. Government forces had The Self-Administration also took steps to threatened to invade the town following the disrupt the presidential elections. On 24 May, it attack on the military position, leading to issued Decision 129 calling for “the closure of all negotiations and an agreement to deport the crossing points between the Self-Administration accused. and Syrian government areas indefinitely, as of Monday May 24 at 19:00”. The decision came The arrival of Um Batna IDPs to Idleb only hours after Syria Democratic Council The departing families, expecting to travel to announced its opposition to the forthcoming Turkish-controlled areas in northern Aleppo, general elections, stating that it would neither were then stopped by members of the Sultan participate in nor help facilitate the elections, Murad Division (a faction within the Syrian calling for a peaceful transition of power in Syria National Army) at the Abu al-Zendin crossing. under the principles of international law. The The families were initially prevented from decision followed reports by media sources entering, waiting for more than 24 hours before stating that the Syrian government had being eventually escorted to opposition- established several election centers in villages controlled areas in Idleb and western Aleppo and towns bordering Self-Administration instead. territory, mainly next to crossing points, in an The decision by the Sultan Murad Division to effort to facilitate the voting process for pro- stop the families from entering was met by large government citizens living in the northeast. The protests at the crossing and in al-Bab city. decision by the Self-Administration to close the Tensions increased, leading to bullets being fired crossing points appears to be an effort to to disperse protestors, and three people being prevent Syrian citizens living in its areas from injured. The deported families were then entering government-held areas to vote.

IDPs stranded Um Batna families deported

Thirty men and their families accused of storming a military position belonging to Iran- backed militias are being deported from Um Batna, a town in Quneitra governorate. The Um Batna IDPs arrive at Al-Zendin crossing into deportations, which began on 20 May, are the Turkish-controlled Aleppo

MERCY CORPS HUMANITARIAN ACCESS WEEKLY REPORT, 21 – 28 May 2021  3 escorted through the crossing, however taken to Not the first time Idleb through the al-Ghazawiya crossing This is not the first time that families displaced by (between Turkish and opposition-controlled the Syrian government have been prevented areas) following security checks and COVID-19 from entering northern Aleppo, under Turkish testing. orders: In 2018, 5,000 IDPs from Homs and On 24 May, the Syrian Salvation Government Damascus were stopped at the Abu al-Zendin (SSG) announced the arrival of 126 IDPs from crossing and prevented from entering for both Um Batna to Deir Hassan, where houses and security reasons and a lack of adequate housing. some basic needs were prepared to receive them They were also redirected to Idleb. in coordination between the Ministry of The incidents contribute to a widening rift Development and Humanitarian Affairs and a between the SNA and the local population, and number of organizations. are expected to increase confrontations between the two sides. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham on the other hand has bolstered its support by taking in the families and providing them with housing and further assistance.

Self-Administration, ISIS concerns ISIS continue to attack

The Syrian Democratic Forces have conducted multiple search and arrest campaigns as a result of increased ISIS attacks on Arabs within the Self-Administration. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 754 people – civilians, officials and fighters – have been assassinated since June across Aleppo, Deir-ez- Zor, Al-Hasakeh and Ar-Raqqa.

The most recent assassination on 21 May of a member of Liwa’ Al-Basira (of the Deir-ez-Zor military council), of which ISIS claimed responsibility for, led to a search and arrest IDPs from Um Batna awaiting entry at al-Zendin crossing into Turkish-controlled Aleppo operation across eastern Deir-ez-Zor, including in the towns of Basira, Zir, and Shiheil (Basira subdistrict), and Hawayej (Thiban subdistrict).

MERCY CORPS HUMANITARIAN ACCESS WEEKLY REPORT, 21 – 28 May 2021  4 On 24 May, the SDF released a public statement ISIS attacks Qaterji group on the conclusion of a security operation that On 23 May, ISIS claimed responsibility for an was launched the day before, alongside the attack against two fuel trucks owned by the Internal Security Forces and the International Qaterji group. As reported by the ISIS-affiliated Coalition and targeted ISIS sleeper cells in Amaq news, the trucks were hit by IEDs on the Jazaret Elbuhmeid (Kisreh subdistrict). The Al-Manakher road east of Ar-Raqqa while en- statement added that they arrested “24 route to government-held areas. ISIS attacks on terrorists, including three terrorists who carried Qaterji group’s fuel trucks are not new (a similar out the assassination of a member of the event had happened the week before), while Legislative Council of Deir-ez-Zor, Muayad al- ‘protection fees’ paid to ISIS to secure safe Rayyesh (on 20 May) … as well as a number of passage provide a key source of income for the others who were involved in other terrorist extremists. It is also likely that the closure of the operations during the Eid Al-Fitr holiday". The illegal crossings on the Euphrates River and the campaign reportedly took place in more than 53 subsequent increased security on the crossings points of interests across Deir-ez-Zor, including has led ISIS to increase pressure on companies informal IDP camps. The SDF added that the transporting fuel, charging more for protection operation was promoted by "the increase in and increasing the threat of attack. terrorist operations…that have targeted sheikhs and employees in service institutions.” ISIS attacks workers of oil burning Further, in an attempt to curb the attacks, on 25 facilities, demands Zakat May, local sources report that the SDF informed In further violence, members of ISIS have shot business owners in multiple eastern Deir-ez-Zor and wounded three men working at a small-scale towns including Shiheil, Thiban, Zir, Tayyana, oil refinery in Deir-ez-Zor. Reportedly, the men Hawayej, and Basira to set up security cameras. had been asked to pay a zakat (charitable The business owners were reportedly told that contribution) of $10,000 each plus an AK47. this was a mandatory decision, and those that Upon refusal of payment, ISIS shot at the refused would be subject to penalties and workers, who were transferred to Tayyana potential jail time. This appears to be a hospital for treatment of their wounds. precautionary measure by the SDF in an attempt to catch perpetrators of the increasing levels of You might have missed: violence against individuals. A day earlier, it was also reported that the SDF had confiscated and  Night lights to predict economic output burned a number of motorbikes in Thiban –  Can Syria recover economically? thought to be another measure protecting  Syria’s long-term outlook, 2021 - 2024 against masked gunmen on motorcycles. This decision is widely unpopular as motorcycles are  Government raids on ISIS in Badia an affordable means of transportation to many.

MERCY CORPS HUMANITARIAN ACCESS WEEKLY REPORT, 21 – 28 May 2021  5

CONTACT Nicholas Bodanac Humanitarian Access Team [email protected]

The Humanitarian Access Team (HAT) was established in Beirut in March 2015 in response to the collective challenges facing the remote humanitarian response in Syria. Successful humanitarian and development interventions require a nuanced and objective understanding of the human ecosystems in which these interventions occur. To this end, the HAT’s most important function is to collect, triangulate, synthesize, analyze and operationalize disparate data and information. Since 2015, HAT analysis has provided a forward-looking template for international interventions in Syria, and facilitated an increasingly nimble, adaptive, integrated, and ultimately impactful international response to the Syrian conflict.