The month of February witnessed intensification in the Syrian regime’s atrocious attacks on Idlib. In response, the Association elevated its efforts to reach the heads of key states and major international platforms to warn the international community to uphold their responsibility towards the civilians trapped in Idlib and to put an end to the war crimes committed by Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies. While our members from Idlib were reporting live on the untold suffering of civilians, our advocacy teams were working day and night to reach the highest offices of key countries and organisations and relay the implications of their inaction.

Over a million people had fled the attacks, while deliberate and continued targeting of hospitals and civilian facilities continued in a systematic way by Russia and the regime. Such war crimes were systematically used to forcibly displace Syrians from their cities. SACD’s Amer Zidan witnessed the immense suffering of Syrians displaced by the Russian and regime’s onslaught on Idlib and Aleppo countryside. The attacks forced civilians to flee their homes in freezing weather, heading on foot towards the Turkish border near Al-Atareb. SACD member of the General Board of Trustees Fadi Nezhat, from rural Damascus who was displaced to Idlib, vividly conveyed the awful reality of the Assad and Russia’s onslaught on Idlib deliberately targeting civilians.

Yet, a snap poll conducted by the SACD with 150 people who have fled the onslaught on Idlib, which was widely covered by the international media, showed that 90.6% of those polled, despite their dire situation, would not consider returning to Assad-held areas or entering reconciliation agreements under Russian guarantees. The poll was conducted in the border areas – Atma village, Albab City, Afreen, Adana, Sarmada and I’zaz City – with people who fled Idlib City, Saraqeb, Ma’rat al-Numan, Ma’rat Shashma, kafruma, Mardebsa, Sarmeen, Talmanas, Khan al-Asaal, Orem, Jabal al-Zawiee and Marestshoreen.

In advance of the emergency session of the UNSC on Idlib, SACD directly addressed the heads of the United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the United Nations and the European Union demanding them to act and stop the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Idlib. At the same time, a letter signed by SACD and more than 50 other Syrian organisations was sent to key heads of states like President Trump, President Erdogan, President Macron, Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Johnson, amongst others, with clear demands:

• “We call on Germany, Turkey, the United States, The United Kingdom, France, and the EU and to use all possible and available measures – diplomatic, economic and military – to stop Russia and Assad’s forces’ onslaught and enforce a no-fly zone over Idlib and other areas where civilians are currently targeted;
• We call on the United Nations and all its relevant agencies to urgently ensure delivery of tents (most urgent), food, blankets, medical supplies and basic infrastructure to the people displaced to the border areas by the Russian and Assad’s onslaught on Idlib;
• We call on Turkey and the EU to open their borders to the people displaced by the Russian and Assad’s onslaught on Idlib and provide them with temporary shelter, aid and safety for their children;
• We call on Turkey to use its monitoring points and military presence inside Syria to protect civilians and IDPs, and we call the United States to support such effort, and any effort to protect civilians.
• We call on the UNHCR to end its silence and regularly and publicly report on the scale of displacement and the needs of the people displaced by the Russian and Assad’s onslaught on Idlib;
• We call on the United States, Germany and other EU countries to urgently intensify the existing economic sanctions against Assad’s government as a tool of pressure to end the onslaught on Idlib and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians.”

SACD published texts in some of the leading international policy-oriented institutes and media like The Guardian  to warn of the catastrophic consequences of Idlib falling into Assad hands which would not only erase any prospect of reaching a comprehensive political solution, but also permanently cement Syrian people’s displacement. Additionally, we intensified the effort to reach the Turkish decision-makers and the public to amplify our call to the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to save Idlib from becoming a new Srebrenica.