New year doesn’t bring any hope to Syrians
For four years, Syria’s Idlib has not celebrated new year. Change in date or even year doesn’t matter. Every year is the same. The same cycle of violence, deceit, and suffering churns over and over again.
One and half million people living in Idlib are enduring what can be described as genocide. It is taking place in phases. People are dying of hunger, they are subject to displacement, and left to suffer in freezing temperatures. Many Syrians were earlier pushed to the northern province. They thought it was a move to protect them from death, starvation, and attacks. But little did they know that they would be used as pawns and negotiation chips for those calling the shots in their country.
Technology may have bridged distances globally, but Idlib remains very far away from us. It has been abandoned to weak blatant political excuses.
Hospitals, schools, and houses are being bombed in Idlib. People are running for their lives, barely carrying anything with them that can remind them of a life they once had. They are targeted by Russian and Syrian jets and barrels bombs. Yet, the world watches in silence. Since the eruption of the Syrian revolt, Russia has exercised its veto 14 times at the UN Security Council. That’s 14 times it has turned its back at the Syrians and denied any chance to them of reclaiming their life and country. Russia’s latest veto denied aid delivery to Idlib.
Those fleeing to the north are met with shut Turkish gates. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan only cares about Arab ‘fraternity’ when it is about defeating the Kurdish ‘brothers’. In order to continue his Peace Spring Operation, he has set his sights on Libya to determine the fate of Syria. Truce and fighting are ongoing and depends on which way the Turkish President wants to look at. It is okay for him
Idlib today represents the impossible task of building a nation and uniting a people. It also reflects the world’s cold response to the Syrian plight.
to even blackmail the Europeans by threatening to open the floodgates to more refugees.
Meanwhile, there is nowhere to go for the Syrians. People in Maaret Al Numan, a city in northwestern Syria, some 33km south of Idlib, were the first to flee from there because of attacks. Syrian journalist Ahmed Al Ahmed quoted another journalist who lived in Maaret Al Numan: “Displacement is a luxury for civilians there. Those who have a vehicle to flee with their family are considered lucky.” Some families are striving to flee, but they have failed so far. There is no means of transportation, which means no hope.
Comparing the situation to previous waves of displacement in other parts of the country, Syrian writer Bakr Sadqi said that eastern Aleppo or eastern Ghouta, for example, did not witness a return of the displaced due to regime pressure. People who have moved to other areas do not want to return.
Who then will populate these areas when reconstruction work begins? Perhaps, scores of Arabs could be shifted to Kurdish regions and we can sit back and watch as they fight for power.
Idlib today represents the impossible task of building a nation and uniting a people. It also reflects the world’s cold response to the Syrian plight. As the new year approaches, we should hang our heads in shame against such shortcomings.