Report on the Population Affected by Armed Conflict in Syria NGO Forum - Humanitarian Trends Analysis Unit December 2015 Report This report is intended for organizations working on the humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis. This report should not be distributed outside of your organization or posted on the Internet. For more information on this report contact: NGO Forum HTAU Coordinator Email: [email protected] Cover photo: Alo Jareki/Reuters Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 3 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 3 Security .................................................................................................................................. 3 IDP movement ....................................................................................................................... 4 Shelter .................................................................................................................................... 5 Education................................................................................................................................ 5 Fuel and heating ..................................................................................................................... 6 WASH .................................................................................................................................... 7 Livelihood .............................................................................................................................. 8 Health ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Appendix A: Acronyms and Secondary Sources on Syria..................................................... 9 Appendix B: Areas of control and GOS/GOR air strikes in Syria ....................................... 10 HTAU December 2015 Report Page 2 Executive Summary This brief report on the Syrian affected population covers the period of late November and early December 2015 and area of Aleppo, Idleb and Hama governorates. It is based on interviews with 13 NGO staff and key informants. The informants were asked about the main problems for the affected community, such as the winter weather, and the affected population’s coping mechanisms for those problems. The main findings include: Safety and security problems continued to increase for the affected population due to increased GOS/GOR air and ground attacks, and offensives by ISIS and OAGs. Areas previously considered safe, such as near the Turkish border, are now often unsafe. With the increased attacks and fighting, population movements continue to areas that are safer. However, some IDPs are returning to their original homes in ceasefire areas, such as Idleb City. Access to adequate shelter continues to be problematic for the affected population, due to many IDP camps being at full capacity, few rental options, high rental prices, and little savings or income. Many children are not attending school due to security reasons, poverty, and lack of adequate, winterized space. Fuel supplies and heating materials are difficult to find or more expensive. The lack of electricity and shortage of fuel have made water supplies more difficult and expensive. While employment is one pull factor for IDPs to safer areas near the Turkish border, jobs are very limited and pay is low. The health sector has been hard hit by recent GOS/GOR attacks and there is a shortage of staff and supplies, while trauma and preventive care demand continues. Methodology This report is based on brief interviews with 13 NGO staff and key informants in northern Syria in November and December, 2015. Key informants were from Aleppo, Idleb and Hama governorates. The informants were asked about the main problems for the affected community, such as the winter weather, and the affected population’s coping mechanisms for those problems. Security Since the GOS increased its coordination with its various allies in late September, 2015, including Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, it has launched multiple offensives in Aleppo, Idleb, Hama, Homs and Daraa governorates. The GOS and its allies have gained some ground in these offensives, while OAGs and ISIS have gained ground in other areas, although the frontlines have not changed much since September (see Appendix B). However, the GOS and allied offensives have been much more intense and destructive with more air and artillery attacks, often in areas that had been safe previously, such as the Turkmen Mountains and other areas along the Turkish border. GOR air attacks have been increasing HTAU December 2015 Report Page 3 devastating for civilians and humanitarian workers after the destruction of the GOR bomber by Turkey on November 24. GOS/GOR has been targeting OAG headquarters, service facilities, fuel and commodity conveys. For example, between Nov. 15 and 30, GOS or GOR attacks hit three hospitals in Daraa, one hospital in Homs, two hospitals and three schools in Eastern Ghouta, and a major bakery in Idleb. The intensity of the bombing and fighting has been almost continually increasing, and double that of the same period one year ago. These GOS/GOR air attacks have had a direct impact on civilian casualties, IDP movements, fuel and food prices and availability, among other things. There is a growing fear among civilians that there is no place safe to go. Specific reports on security came from various localities. Civilian kidnapping by unknown actors was a problem in Dana, Idleb and Aleppo City. In Dana, the local OAG took measures to prevent kidnapping, such as increased road blocks, which supposedly increased the time before kidnappers could contact family members. Media and civil society activists were especially at risk. In Idleb City small arms use has created an atmosphere of insecurity, which has reduced the number of business owners opening their shops. Also, there is concern that the local ceasefire in the Idleb City and Maaret Tamsrin area between GOS and OAGs may break down. Civilians were hit by GOR air strikes while harvesting olives in Kili, Idleb and while getting assistance from a local NGO in Aleppo City. In Sarmada, Idleb the security situation within the urban center was reported to be safe since airstrikes had targeted the outskirts of Sarmada urban center and a truck station near Bab Al-Hawa, destroying humanitarian aid and other shipments. Truck drivers were avoiding the station. In Latmana in southern Idleb there has been daily shelling, even though 40% of its original population is still there. These people preferred to stay in their homes rather than staying in camps, regardless of the destruction. The informal tented settlement in Kafr Zeita was hit by a GOS/GOR airstrike, with women and children causalities. GOS/GOR air strikes in Atareb, Aleppo were a problem, although local NGOs and the local council responded in rapidly. One airstrike hit the Internet and the radio (walkie-talkie) tower, but it was fixed the next day. Some communities have set up observation systems with walkie-talkie radios to provide advance warning of GOS/GOR air attacks, which is communicated to key places, such as schools or hospitals. IDP movement During November and December the conflict patterns were such that airstrikes alone did not often trigger long term displacement, unless they were accompanied by intensive ground hostilities. Most displacement triggered by airstrikes was temporary, with the affected population moving to local farms or nearby communities for a few days, and then returning home. The main push factor for long term displacement was safety, and pull factors were job opportunities and humanitarian services. At first most of the poorest IDPs went to the Atma and Qah camps, and Dana and Sarmada communities, however these areas were quickly became full, so recent IDPs have resorted to erecting makeshift shelters and using unfinished buildings. Due to the escalated fighting and GOS/GOR air strikes, the Dana, Idleb area witnessed a HTAU December 2015 Report Page 4 huge influx of IDPs in November and December, with an unofficial tally of about 250,000 IDPs in the area.1 Since Dana, Idleb was reported to be one of the safest communities in Idleb governorate, many IDPs were going there. These included IDPs from Tadmor, Homs, Sahel Al Ghab, Hama, and many IDPs from communities that were relatively safe in the past, such as southern, rural Aleppo towns like Saan Elghazal, Buz Kij and Iss, and Hama communities like Latmana and Kafr Zeita. Some of these IDPs were the last to leave their villages, since they stayed until the fighting got simply too intense. In Aleppo City, GOS/GOR airstrikes and military hostilities resulted in a huge wave of displacement from Al Kalasseh neighborhood towards the north to Daret Azza and Atareb, which were already overcrowded with IDPs. Other Aleppo City IDPs fled to relatively safer outskirts of the city. Shelter This influx of IDPs to Dana, Idleb caused significant shortage of shelter, since the local IDP camps were overcapacity and few rental apartments were available. As a result, IDPs were finding it very difficult to find adequate shelter. Also, apartment rental prices were increasing. In some cases old tenants were asked to evacuate so landlords could rent to newly arrived IDPs who offered