With scant resources available to help 1.2 million displaced people in Lebanon, tensions are rising and Syrians are a low priority. Abandoned to sleep in the street as Israel’s violent escalation deepens, for many it feels like history repeating itself.
Young Syrians returning from Lebanon to AANES-held northeastern Syria, like those heading for regime areas, face the threat of conscription for “self-defense duty.”
While tens of thousands have fled Lebanon for Syria this week, many Syrians are taking their chances with Israeli bombing rather than face the risks of return.
While some humanitarian organizations target informal displacement camps where 150,000 people have languished for years in Syria’s northern Raqqa province, the response falls short of what is needed, particularly for widows.
Bombardment by Syrian regime forces and affiliated militias has killed and injured dozens of people in SDF-controlled villages and towns in Deir e-Zor since Iran-backed Arab tribal forces launched an attack on the eastern countryside six days ago.
People displaced from Afrin to Aleppo city’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods bury their loved ones in wooden coffins rather than traditional shrouds, hoping to bring them home one day, even after death.
As Lebanon deports and evicts Syrian refugees, pressure on journalists and advocates working to bring violations to light is also increasing, forcing some to leave the country or stop their work, just when it is needed most.
The unlikely fruit of war and displacement, unconventional crops like strawberries, broccoli and Damask roses are taking root in Idlib province, where they were seldom cultivated before the war.
Hundreds of Syrians in Lebanon have been evicted, and thousands more face losing their homes, as the country cracks down on refugees. Some 1,306 Syrian households and individuals have been evicted so far in 2024, compared to 78 in 2023.
Thirteen years after the Syrian revolution, displacement camps in Idlib’s Atma look increasingly like towns, tents replaced by cement buildings. Has the dream of return been lost?
