Never before have so many people fled their own country as last year: According to the Observatory for Internally Displaced Persons in Geneva, there are almost 76 million worldwide. The reason for this is current wars such as in the Gaza Strip, Ukraine and Sudan. But there are also crises that are currently barely making headlines – such as in Syria: With over seven million people, Syria is one of the countries with the most internally displaced people in the world. Middle East expert Bente Scheller says how people are doing in the war-ravaged country.
SRF News: Last year the number of internally displaced people in Syria increased again for the first time since 2019. Provinces in the northwest, Idlib and Aleppo, are particularly affected. What are the reasons for that?
Bente Scheller: This is also due to the severe earthquake in 2023. The natural disaster has added to the political conflict. At the same time, sentiment against refugees from Syria was strongly fueled in Türkiye. During last year’s elections and campaign, a large number of people were forced back into Syria or decided to return voluntarily. Such a threat to Syrian refugees can also be observed in Lebanon at the moment.
What role does the civil war in Syria play with Idlib as the last bastion of the rebels?
The conflict in Syria is so frozen that many people cannot return to where they came from. People were also repeatedly deported to Idlib from other parts of the country. People also came from the area around Damascus when the Syrian army moved there. There are countless people who have been living as refugees in their own country for years. There is no solution in sight here either, because President Bashar al-Assad does not want to let these people return.
Is the situation in the rest of the country a little less tense?
There is less conflict there. However, the situation is very tense socially and economically. 90 percent of people in Syria live below the poverty line. This is why tensions flare up again and again in individual parts of the country, currently especially in the south in the province of Suweida. Fortunately, this was not accompanied by further expulsions.
The system has become much more corrupt and inhumane than it already was.
What does it mean specifically when such tensions flare up?
People still dare to protest. This reflects the misery in which the Syrian population finds itself. The conflict began with people rising up against Al-Assad’s rule. He remains firmly in the saddle. The system has become much more corrupt and inhumane than it already was. Hundreds of thousands have disappeared, most of them in regime prisons.
Legend:
“Nothing is improving for the population,” says Bente Scheller. “On the contrary: political persecution remains acute and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating.”
Keystone / AP, Hassan Ammar
Many people have been on the run since the civil war broke out within Syria. Do you still have hope that you will be able to return to your home at some point?
In the beginning, a lot of people held out. Even when the war was really raging and the regime was using all its might against the citizens. It wasn’t until 2013, two years after the outbreak of war, that many left. Meanwhile, many of the people who have been living in another place for ten or more years have given up hope. There are also many children who have received little or no school education at all. This also reduces the chances of a better life.
The interview was conducted by Christina Scheidegger.