An opinion piece 

The Arab Spring protests reached Syria in March 2011, the pro-democracy uprising, initially demanding reforms, soon turned into a civil war and violence escalated as a result of the government forces utilizing brutality to suppress the civil movement. More than seven years of conflict lead to the deaths of over 400,000 Syrians; millions were forcibly displaced, and the country is devastated economically. Since the beginning of the conflict, more than four million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and an estimated  6.1 million people have been  displaced within Syria, bringing the total  number of expelled Syrians to a staggering 11.5 million (UNHCR 2017).

Now that the Syrian conflict is “coming to an end” according to many countries, the following question arises: can all Syrians return home? Some Western countries have started sending Syrian refugees back to Syria or forcing their hand to return by rejecting their families’ asylum applications. Return might sound like a possible scenario now that the country is no longer the site of a proxy war, reality is much more complex. Unfortunately, the concept of return is often discussed and decided upon without consulting Syrian refugees themselves. Policies encouraging Syrians to return home could have catastrophic impacts on the lives of many innocent people. 

Before deciding whether Syrian refugees should return home, the international community must answer the following questions: Who would guarantee the safety of the millions of displaced Syrians as international human rights laws aren’t respected in their home country? The fear of detention, torture and death prevents many Syrians from even considering the idea of homecoming. Will the regime tolerate their “‘betrayal”’? Will they be able to live with fear and oppression after experiencing the freedom and security offered in other countries? Will they be able to join the compulsory loyalist marches cheering al-Assad and showing support for him and his regime after all the crimes he has committed against them? Will they want to go live in Syria where their basic life needs aren’t met? Such questions and many more can’t be ignored when discussing the concept of return. 

What these countries aren’t taking into consideration is the fact that the al-Assad regime has secured his ruling of the country and simply will not tolerate having these refugees back. Nonetheless, the regime was indulging an illusion by inviting Syrians to come back and participate in rebuilding the country. It is what world leaders want to hear but this couldn’t be true and history has shown that this regime can’t be trusted. 

The sad reality is that Syria is no longer a home for all Syrians; it has become a country for ‘certain’ Syrians, Russians, Iranians and Hezbollah fighters and supporters. What most people neglect to recognize is that the Russian/Iranian interference in Syria is a kind of an invasion. These countries are not just “helping” the Syrian regime to restore order and peace, they are there to stay and subdue any attempt to overthrow al-Assad and his regime. In fact, the regime’s dominance over Syria could be considered a case of internal occupation, since the al-Assad administration invited his allies in arms into the country to suppress and control the Syrian population and its prominent opposition figures.

RECONSTRUCTION – BUT FOR WHOM?  

Regrettably, Syria is well known for its corrupt system; the country is based on favoritism and an inequality of wealth distribution. The regime’s family and their relatives and friends share the country’s fortune and resources, with no laws to restrain their power and influence; their control over Syria’s capital and investments has no limits. 

Seven years of war have had its tragic toll on Syria’s economy, but the loss of military investment could be turned into profit, by using the destruction of the country to promote reconstruction projects. Militarized reconstruction is a new term that is used nowadays when discussing the Syrian case, and, more specifically, the reconstruction of the city of Aleppo. The regime is desperately trying to show the world the gains it has achieved in the city and how great the economic opportunity is. The reconstruction is merely for propaganda to promote a false story of a fake victory. 

Since Aleppo and many other cities fell to the Syrian regime, many governmental campaigns to promote reconstruction projects have begun. Daily updates from Aleppo are emerging, and the government is serious when it comes to the topic of rebuilding, but we should ask the critical question: reconstructing for whom and how? Who is going to invest and at what cost? The rebuilding process is biased and selective. One could argue that the UN involvement should limit the Russian and Iranian domination over the reconstruction projects, but this isn’t entirely true. Their influence is present regardless of UN involvement, and this involvement just serves to give false legitimacy and credibility to the regime. The displaced population isn’t allowed back in the city and east Aleppo is completely abandoned, but rebuilding the ‘significant’ half of Aleppo is what the UN and its partners want. It’s not a matter of perspectives here, it’s more about how repulsively prejudiced this whole thing is. 

With many projects undertaken by Asma al-Assad’s charity foundation and its UN partners (Beals 2017), funds are being generated in order to burnish the regime’s murderous face and promote its secular, civilized, necktie brutality. 

UNDP and UNESCO are working closely with the Syrian regime and its administrative. Their role in the reconstruction procedures is still unclear, but the argument they are using provoked some controversy, especially that they claim not to be working with the regime, but with the ‘people’. Which people are they talking about, and why does it sound like they don’t already know that the government controls all of the country’s institutions? 

The Syrians who fled the country escaping the regime’s brutality aren’t considered “people”, and the claims that the reconstruction is for reconciliation doesn’t make much sense: the ones who need to be reconciled aren’t even there to begin with and won’t even be considered. 

It is true that rebuilding the country requires local expertise and would generate plenty of job opportunities, but not all Syrians are offered the chance to participate: unless you support the regime and its corruption, you’re not welcome.

WHAT HAS TO BE SAID AND DONE  

History has told many stories, but are we to learn something? It could be said with certainty that the past keeps repeating itself in the most horrific of manners: dictators come and go, cities fall and rise again. Why is the Syrian story so special? Well, it isn’t, the only significant thing is all these unused international legal documents: if we are to read those dealing with human rights, cities’ rights, and so on, one would be astonished. However, the question remains: when will these legal documents be implemented in the Syrian case? When will the international community stop waving these away in order to protect a killer’s government? 

Aleppo has entered a new era, and history is definitely written by winners. The objective story doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Yet this is not the case with everyone. We still care, and by ‘we’, I mean the Syrians who believed in a better future. The Russians are there to stay, so are the Iranians, the Turks and the Americans. How could our story be written by them? Will the following generations read the epic story of the many Syrians who died believing in a dream, a dream that cost us more than souls, it cost us our cities, our memories and everything we held dear? The answer is no, they will hear a story of victory, a story of a modern dictator who saved Syria from terrorists. This is the most popular story nowadays anyway. 

If we were to discuss options and propose solutions for the obstacles facing the Syrians when deciding to return to their country, I could think of one solution: the regime has to be overthrown and justice should be served. Those who committed crimes and have stains of blood on their hands should be punished so that Syrians can restore faith in the global justice system. 

Anything else would be fictitious and unfair for many Syrians, and unless there’s a way to guarantee the safety of those who want to return, many won’t even consider doing so. 

It’s safe to say that al-Assad doesn’t want any of his opponents back, but he’d go as far as suggesting that many of the Syrian refugees are terrorists and pose a threat to the Western world (Nelson 2017), supposing he thinks it’s better when the hosting countries send them back and let them languish in his prisons to die instead. 

The logic is simple: if you want to get Syrians back to their country, stop supporting al-Assad and take your troops out of their country. You can’t keep empowering al-Assad and his regime and expect people to return voluntarily, knowing that nothing awaits them except suppression, imprisonment and death. 

The Syrian revolution was the country’s chance for a reformation. Now that the revolution has failed to achieve its goals and objectives, the future of Syria doesn’t look so bright, especially given that regime change would require not only the downfall of al-Assad as a person but that the whole regime’s intelligence agencies, security and military system be altered. The chain of corruption has been forming in the country for almost half a century, and it isn’t easy (if not impossible) to break. The security grip is only tightening, and the brutality of the regime has no limits.

References 

Beals, E. 2017: UN allowing Assad government to take lead in rebuilding Aleppo. Fox News [Online] 16 November. Available at: <http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/11/16/un-allowing-assad-government-to-take-lead-in-rebuilding-aleppo.html> [Accessed 05 February 2018] 

Nelson, N. 2017: Syria’s Assad: Some refugees are terrorists. POLITICO [Online] 02 October. Available at: <https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/bashar-assad-syria-refugees-terrorists-yahoo-interview-234890> [Accessed 01 February 2018] 

UNHCR, 2017: Syria Emergency. [Online] 07. December. Available at: <http://www.unhcr.org/syria-emergency.html> [Accessed 09 February 2018] 

The post Should Syria’s Displaced Return? appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

“Do certain images of injured kids stay in my mind more than others? If you asked me that two years ago, then I could probably give an answer. But today, after witnessing the huge number of massacres that I have, it’s very hard to think of one specific instance. It’s become a daily occurrence. Now images stay in my mind for a short while before they slip away, to take their place alongside all the others. My own personal graveyard.” AFP Photographer Abd Doumany

Life in the City

“Young children love animals in general. They were really happy in the cat shelter… playing with the cats.” Photo: Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel

A crowd-sourced animal sanctuary in east Aleppo teaches compassion: ‘To love the small, weak cats is to love everything’

In Aleppo, many mosques have opened their doors to families fleeing the latest fighting but they are full now. These families stay in an open area near Raees Mosque in western Aleppo city, since there is no room left inside after the latest wave of attacks.
Photo: UNICEF/UN027711/Al-Issa

Keeping water flowing in Aleppo

Recently damaged hospital. Photo: HOSAM AL-JABLAWI

Aleppo’s Deteriorating Medical Sector

medicsunderfire.org

Open letter to Secretary John Kerry and President Obama,

The repeated targeting of healthcare workers and hospitals by the Russian and Syrian governments are war crimes. We call on you to give Syria’s heroic healthcare workers and the communities they serve a zone free from bombing to ensure their protection. The international community has agreed the bombs need to stop. The resolutions are in place. They simply need to be enforced. Over 9,525 have signed this letter. To add your signature, go to: Medicsunderfire.org.

The Economist reported that Syria’s president, a former doctor, is turning hospitals into death traps.

Syrians queue up to buy bread in a rebel held neighborhood on July 12, 2016.
PHOTO AFP/ KARAM AL-MASRI

Aleppian journalist Zaina Erhaim shares a personal account of life in the city in Chasing bananas, dodging bombs: Life and death in besieged Aleppo.

Burning tires in Aleppo to create smoke cover from airstrikes. August 2016. Photo: Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

Watching My Beloved Aleppo Rip Itself Apart. Lina Sergie Attar is a founder and the chief executive of the Karam Foundation, which provides humanitarian aid to Syrians.

The White Helmets were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. To support their nomination, click here. The AlJazeera documentary above was filmed before their nomination.

Reconstruction

A boy uses prosthetic arm provided by ROW. Image via Refugee Open Ware.

Wanda compiled a list of 10 initiatives using tech to prevent a lost generation of Syrians, creating educational and employment opportunities for refugees uprooted from their country struggling reboot their lives.

The post Aleppo Weekly – August 11-September 1 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

“Big businesses are closing and the problems we are facing only young people can solve…The need for startups and entrepreneurship culture is really essential for Syria.” Leen Darwish. Read about her coding app Remmaz here.

More Youth Voices

Faia Younan. Photo: EPA.

“I sing songs that are not primarily about the war itself, but somehow deal with its existence…For example, I have recently sung a song about a mother humming her child to sleep not knowing if the next day was going to be a good day or not, if her child was going to survive or not…So she sings: ‘Sleep my little bird, tomorrow everything will be better’. It is a bittersweet song, but it doesn’t deal with the war explicitly.” Aleppo Native Faia Younan.

Hajar’s story. Hajar lost her mother and three sisters, Noura, Mouna and Aysha in an April airstrike

International and Diaspora Voices

Amnesty International  issued a new report –Torture was my punishment-Abducation, Torture and Summary Killings under Armed Group Rule in Aleppo and Idleb, Syria.

“I witnessed the summary killing of two captured shabiha fighters by the al-Shamia Front in front of al-Shifa hospital in Aleppo city on two separate dates in 2015. The al-Shamia Front announced the execution publicly and then shot them with a rifle. They left the bodies for a few hours on the street for people to see.” Aleppo city resident

Tamador and her sons arrive in Toronto. Photo: Liz Beddall/Metro

One refugee family’s long journey from Aleppo to Markham.

Levent Topçu works to improve lives for Syrian refugees.

Dr. Sahloul. Photo: SAMS.

Dr. Zaher Sahloul traveled with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) from Chicago for his fifth medical mission to Aleppo. He stayed “at a hospital that was bombed several times and the people … built it underground for protection.” Listen to him explain how the city has changed over the past 18 months here.

OXFAM America highlighted the important role Syria’s diaspora places in humanitarian relief efforts and planning for the future.

Palmyra. Photo: UNESCO.

Two UN agencies have joined forces to protect heritage sites using satellite imagery. UNOSAT released a new report with satellite imagery illustrating damage to cultural heritage sites, including Palmyra and Old Aleppo.

Aleppo, 2016. Photo: Rami Jarrah.

The IMF released a Working Paper on Syria’s war economy. Its key messages are: (1) Syria’s GDP is less than half of pre-war levels and could take two decades or more to recover; and that (2) rebuilding Syria’s human and social capital will be a larger challenge than rebuilding its physical infrastructure.

The post The Aleppo Weekly- June 28-July 5 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

A market in the Shaar district shortly before iftar. Click here to watch the video.

Voices from the City

Syria Deeply profiled a makeshift school in Aleppo.

“We’ve been here doing this for two years, 12 teachers with no payment at all. Two years of volunteer work for the kids to save them from illiteracy.” Abu Ibrahim, Teacher, Old City

Al Zahra Hospital. Photo: Ismael Abdulrahman/Al Jazeera.

Al-Zahra Hospital is eastern Aleppo’s last remaining obstetric clinic. An airstrike hit the area’s main pediatric facility in late April, killing many, including a prominent pediatrician. Dr. Zahed Qaterji told Asharq Al-Awsat that doctors at Al Quds faced “unprecedented challenges.” 

To transfer patients to the hospital, “We place the lives of the patient, the person accompanying him, the driver and his assistant in danger, because the four persons are forced to cross the Castello road which is now similar to a suicidal attempt.” Dr. Qaterji, Al Quds Hospital

Instructions from The Syria Civil Defense or the White Helmets about what to do in case of an attack.

The Conflict

Over the past several weeks, assailants have attempted to assassinate military leaders and independent journalists. Al-Monitor asks, Who is killing Syrian opposition figures in Aleppo, Idlib?

Photo: Mustafa Sultan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Imagese

Multiple sources reported that Russia recently used incendiary munitions in civilian areas.

Civilians fleeing al-Bab area. Photo: ANHA.

The Islamic State reportedly abducted about 900 Kurdish civilians near al-Bab over the past few weeks.

Refugee Voices

Huzaifa, a 15-year-old refugee from Aleppo in Germany. Photo: The Guardian.

Emotional trauma leaves deep wounds for Syria’s child refugees.

Muhannad Qaiconie in Macedonia where helped families carry their children (MEE/Muhannad Qaiconie)

“All of these people who have helped me – and I know I’m not the only person with this experience – are allowing me and fellow Syrians the possibility to go on and not to lose hope. This world is continuing because of them, because of people who are working in silence, helping, and sending love. People like them are making this awful world so much better. Now I believe in helping people more than anything. To all of you, thank you so much. Muhannad Qaiconie, Refugee from Aleppo in Germany.

Photo: Teun Voeten / Panos

SciDev Net’s View on Migration: Protect refugees with mobile banking.

Reconstruction

Graphic: World Bank, May 2016.

Yezid Sayigh, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut called for new approaches to economic reconstruction in Reconstructing Syria: The need to break the mould.

The American Security Project published a White Paper on Syrian Stabilization and Reconstruction. The paper draws on lessons from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia to recommend ways to stabilize and rebuild Syria after the conflict.

The post Aleppo Weekly- June 22- 27 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

Studies of the Syrian civil war have largely focused on topics such as refugees and casualties and have left the crucial topic of employment greatly under-researched. Understanding changes in the composition of the job market will greatly enhance reconstruction efforts in post-war Aleppo as it allows a better understanding of the availability and quality of the labour force.

In late 2014 and early 2015, The Aleppo Project surveyed 1001 Aleppians about many issues.

This paper focuses on the two questionnaire items related to current professions of the respondents and their previous professions. The major findings of this paper include:

• The composition of the job market has pointedly changed due to the conflict
• Unemployment more than doubled due to the conflict. This applies to Aleppians within the city and abroad
• Differences in the rate of unemployment among Aleppians are largely explained by gender, age, education, and the neighbourhood from which the respondents come.

I believe that policymakers in post-war Aleppo will be faced with very high unemployment rates as the returnees with the fewest economic opportunities abroad come to Aleppo first to seek jobs. Ignoring the unemployed might ignite new unrest and could make the process of reintegration and reconciliation harder.

Policymakers should develop special initiatives to deal with the special situation of employment that will emerge as soon as the war ends. These initiatives should include labour-intensive reconstruction projects in order to absorb the expected excesses in unskilled labour supply.

To download the report, click here.

Karam Shaar is a PhD student of Economics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.  

Email: karam.shaar@vuw.ac.nz

The post Impact of the Civil War on Aleppo’s Job Market appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

Government and rebel forces bombed a number of hospitals and clinics in Aleppo over the past several days.

UK Channel 4 released CCTV footage of the Syrian Government’s 27 April airstrike on al-Quds hospital.

al-Dabbit Hospital. Western Aleppo.

On May 3, AlJazeera reported that rebels shelled al-Dabbit Hospital in government-controlled Aleppo.

#AleppoIsBurning

Activists organized worldwide protests to condemn #AleppoIsBurning. Locally, Aleppian Yahya Abdullah and activists protested in front of Budapest’s St. Stephen’s Basilica.

It will be terribly sad that Aleppo, the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth and a place of great beauty and culture that belongs to all humanity, will become a place associated with such awful violence. Instead we need to ensure that Aleppo marks the start of a new movement towards respect for International Humanitarian Law and a revival of the efforts to protect the innocent from the ravages of war. The Aleppo Project, #AleppoIsBurning

Hundreds of civilians have been killed since the conflict between Syrian government and rebels escalated on April 22.

Bab an-Nairab water treatment plant, eastern Aleppo.

On April 27, the Bab an-Nairab water treatment plant was bombed in eastern Aleppo.

Mullah Khaneh Mosque. Bab al-Faraj, Aleppo. 29 April 2016. Photo: Zahra News Network.

On April 29, Mullah Khaneh Mosque near the frontline in Bab al-Faraj was damaged and 17 civilians were killed by rebel shelling during Friday Prayers.

Britta Haji Hassan, Head of Free Aleppo Governorate Council. Photo: Enab Baladi.

Activists report that the head of the Free Aleppo Governorate Council, Britta Haji Hassan, has been detained by the PYD in Afrin since Thursday. He was arrested in his hometown of Maryamin when he went to visit family. The deputy head of the Council said that Haji Hassan had visited his wife and children without incident since the PYD-allied Syrian Democratic Forces occupied Maryamin on 27 December 2015.

Reconstruction

UNESCWA released Syria at War. Per the authors, the report focuses on socioeconomic ramifications of the conflict and identifies guiding principles and key critical steps for a post-conflict Syria. They believe that initial post conflict efforts need to concentrate on the most vulnerable population groups, including refugees.

Five years of conflict led to an estimated 2.3 million people being killed or wounded, while more than 12 million are displaced. GDP contracted by 55 per cent and total losses incurred in five years of conflict are estimated at $259.6 billion. More than 80 per cent of the population is living below the poverty line. Millions are deprived of the essential necessities of life. Schools and hospitals have seized to operate leading to worsening of education and health outcomes.

The post Hospitals Under Attack. The Aleppo Weekly, April 26 – May 3 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

World: whatever you are doing, stop and pay attention. Today has been the worst day in Syria for over a year. Attacks are everywhere. The White Helmets. 22 April 2016.

Syrian Voices

Fatima. Aleppian. Photo:UNICEF Jordan.

“I want to be a judge because I believe in justice for all” Fatima.

“We hope that competing in the tournament will take the kids’ minds off the siege conditions and constant bombing,” Abu Farouq. Tournament Organizer.

Thuha, an 8 year old Aleppian, Refugee camp in Lebanon. UNHCR/Sam Tarting.

UNHCR Tracks profiles Thuha and her sister Shamsa in The Ragdolls and the Clay Oven.

Children of Syria. Frontline.

PBS/Frontline broadcast Children of Syria, a documentary following the war through the eyes of four siblings from Aleppo. We regret the film may not be available yet outside the United States. The documentary will also be shown as ‘Children on the Frontline: The Escape’ on UK Channel 4 in May 2016. Filmmaker Marcel Mettelsiefen spoke to CNN’s Christian Amanpour about the film and the family’s amazing story.

The State of the Conflict

Aleppo. 23 April 2016. Photo:Thare Mohammed/AMC

Western Aleppo. April 2016. Photo:Unknown.

Fighting forces 40,000 to flee their homes. Al-Monitor and The Arab Weekly explore prospects for Aleppo and the peace process.

Atareb Training Center. Photo: The White Helmets.

An attack on the Syrian Civil Defence/ The White Helmets Atareb Training Center killed five search and rescue volunteers.

Reconstruction

UNHabitat

The new GIS Handbook explains how local governments can use mapping software to better understand their communities.

UNHabitat

UNHabitat

UNHabitat’s most downloaded publication – International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning is now available in Arabic.

Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/Files.

Reuters explores how Countries look to draw expatriate cash with ‘diaspora bonds.’

The post The Aleppo Weekly, April 18-25 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

Ordinary Syrian people are going to extraordinary lengths, risking everything to protect their heritage, despite the horror that has engulfed their country. For them, it is not a question of people or stones. The story of the people is embedded in those stones, a crafted story stretching back millennia. Saving that story is saving Syria. Dr. Emma Cunliffe. Research Associate, Oxford University.

Syrian Voices

While in prison, Shahabi went from 273 pounds to just 97. Photo: Ibrahim Shahabi.

“For the first six months, the torture was every hour. It came in so many ways, without mercy or compassion. However, after tuberculosis, diarrhea, and other infectious diseases came into the barracks, the guards refrained from entering out of fear that they too would be infected. They would throw us our measly rations from the bottom of the cell door, and if someone died, they would throw us the key from the cell window so  that we could leave to bury the person in the yard.” Ibrahim Shahabi, a well-known bodybuilding champion from Aleppo.

The BBC profiles Aleppo’s underground doctors.

Aleppo Demonstration. 13 April 2016. Photo: AEJ.

Medical staff demonstrate after an airstrike killed Dr.Hassan, a respected cardiologist in Hama. His car appeared to have been deliberately targeted.

Water Purifying Tablet. Photo: Louay Otba.

Before the war, Aleppian entrepreneur Louay Otba invented and started producing a chlorine-free water disinfecting tablet. He will use his $5,000 prize from the Jusoor Entrepreneurship Competition to start the patent examination process.

“The Zoom Group.” Photo: Ahmad Saflo

Syrian Trainees Tell Stories in Their Own Words

“My writing of their stories did not matter. What mattered was that they tell their own stories, how and when they want to. What I had to do was try to give them back their voice. I could only provide them with the tools and skills needed, and then listen.” Hala Droubi, Karam Project Leadership Program.

In what the opposition labeled a “farce,” the “National Unity” list won 200 of 250 seats in parliamentary elections.  A prominent Aleppo lawyer toured election centers in western Aleppo. He reported that in many locations he was provided completed lists to vote with instead of a blank ballot. The UN does not recognize the elections.

Reconstruction

Idlib countryside. May 2015. Photo: Reuters/Khalil Ashawi.

Al Monitor explores Syria’s withering agricultural sector.

Reasons for Departure. Disaster and Emergency
Management Presidency of Turkey (AFAD) Survey Results.

“Peace and reconstruction are two sides of the same coin and a reconstruction strategy for Syria—the most war-ravaged country in the region—could help foster a sustainable peace.”  World Bank. Syria : reconstruction for peace.

“Peacebuilding is not an end point; it is a process that needs to be started very early on and supported at every stage.” Rebuilding Societies: Strategies for Resilience and Recovery in Times of Conflict

The State of the Conflict

Search for survivors after airstrike in rebel-held Aleppo. Photo: Reuters/A.Ismail.

Despite ceasefire fighting erupts in Aleppo.

The post The Aleppo Weekly, April 12-17 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

In My Beloved Aleppo, Sawsan Ibrahim collects 648 photos of the Old City, downtown and residential districts in central and western Aleppo. 

IDPs live in a former university housing building. March 2016. Lorenzo Meloni/Magnum Photos

Time’s photo essay Inside War Ravaged Syria features recent photos by Lorenzo Meloni/Magnum Photos.

Xinhua/Barcroft Media

Palmyra after Isis: a visual guide

The Conflict

Institute for the Study of War

“Aleppo Province stands to become the focal point of a new round of violence in the Syrian Civil War even as the Geneva III Talks to end the conflict are scheduled to resume on April 13. Continued violations of an ongoing ‘cessation of hostilities’ by both pro-regime and opposition factions have fueled the largest outbreak of violence in northern Syria since the agreement went into effect on February 27, threatening to drive a wider breakdown of the tenuous ceasefire.”  Institute for the Study of War.

Children play Bustan al-Qasr. 6 April 6 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail.

“I hope the truce will continue, and I believe all the Syrian people share my wish. We have had enough with all the killing and displacement. However, I am not optimistic about the truce holding.” Mohammed Hakk, 24. Aleppo sees cautious calm amid cease-fire.

An Nusra fighters. Aleppo. May 2015. AFP.

In Aleppo City, there were clashes, airstrikes and ground battles around Castello Road, Sheikh Maqsood and industrial areas north of the city. Middle East Eye reported that Nusra is tightening its grip in Aleppo with a “growing presence, weekly parades, and grudging tolerance from other rebels.”

Over the past several days, conflict escalated in Aleppo Province. In the northern countryside, rebels liberated towns along the Turkish border from ISIS as far east as ar-Ra’i. Isis later retook ar-Ra’i. Fighting continues between opposition, including an-Nusra Front, and the government south of Aleppo.

Children in IDP camp near Azaz. Halab News Network.

Halab News Network reported that a new survey shows 165,000 IDPs in twelve camps along the Turkish border near Azaz. One hundred thirty thousand people live in formal camps that receive regular aid. Another 35,000 live in informal camps set up by fleeing residents. Infectious skin diseases are rampant because the camps have poor sewage systems and waste water drains into local streams. Efforts are being made to install sewage systems.

Life in the City

Photo: Atareb Genetic Blood Disease Center.

Syria Direct reported that the pediatric blood bank cut services because it can no longer afford its $2,500 per month expenses.

Anti-government protests in Aleppo on Friday, April 8.

Aleppo Pepper Flakes. Photo: Becky Harlan.

National Geographic’s ‘The Plate’ explored How Syria’s Famous Aleppo Pepper Might Be Saved.

Syrian Voices

Dr. Marwa al-Sabouni. April 2016. Photo: Ghassan Janisz.

The Guardian interviewed Dr. Marwa al-Sabouni about her upcoming memoir The Battle for Home. Dr. al-Sabouni, who holds a PhD in Islamic architecture and a Master’s degree in architectural design has lived in Homs throughout the conflict with her husband and two children. Her memoir examines the conflict through the lens of architecture, showing how the built environment mirrors the community that inhabits it. When asked about the government retaking Palmyra from ISIS, she said,

“I was concerned for the people there, caught in the crossfire, no doctors to help them. We’ve been hearing terrible things…Do you want me to be honest? I don’t know how I feel about it. I visited Palmyra when I was at school, and even then I saw the electrical wiring around the columns, the new carving of names on ancient stones, the disorganised urbanism, tourism and restoration. It was so neglected. It had no protection, out there in the desert. You could jump on it, climb on it. Take a look at a picture of the so-called museum: the fake ceiling, the metal cage of a door. Part of me thinks it was better that it was destroyed…I understand why the west is emotional about it. But when you are living here, you have a different angle.”

Thousands of former students and academics now live as refugees. Reuters

The BBC reported about Syria’s loss of students needed to rebuild its future.

“There was no electricity, and it was often difficult to find water. But we did our best.” Syrian academic on conditions at Aleppo University.”

Maha Ghrer

“My estrangement began when I traveled to Gaziantep in Turkey, when I left everything I knew for the unknown. Fugitive from all my memories and my sufferings, carrying my luggage as if I already knew that I will not come back anytime soon…But soon enough I got used to this new place, especially as the city became a harbor for many Syrians. It was also very close to Syria and made me feel that I can go back or visit at any time…I decided to move to Europe, like many other Syrians had done, and it was then that my second and toughest estrangement began. I did not know what was waiting for me there and no one amongst those who preceded me told me what it means to be a refugee: that my pride would be scratched every step of the way.” Maha Ghrer

Syria Mobile Film Festival

The second Syrian Mobile Film Festival took place at the Bosra Amphitheatre in Dar’a Province

Syrians in Turkey

Turkish authorities re-opened the Bab as-Salameh border crossing for Syrians with Turkish residence permits, tickets or visas to travel outside Turkey, or embassy appointments.

A Syrian woman shops at a market in a low-income neighborhood of Ankara. September2015. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas.

Syria Pulse reported that Syrian refugees have contributed greatly to Turkey’s economy, but economists are not sure how long the boost will last.

On April 10, there was an assassination attempt in downtown Gaziantep on Zaher Sharqat, a religious preacher and TV anchor at Halab News TV. On April 12, Mr. Sharqat died from his wounds. Many believe ISIS is behind the attempt, a chilling reminder of the assassination by two ISIS member last December of journalist and filmmaker Naji Jerf. Haber Turk TV broadcast the attempt.

The Turkish General Directorate of Migration Management published updated numbers of Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey by province. Urfa ranked first with 401,068, followed by Istanbul with 394,556. In total, there are 2,749,140 Syrians registered under temporary protection in Turkey. These figures do not include unregistered Syrians or those with residency permits.

The post The Aleppo Weekly, April 5-11 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

We know that many Syrians who have been forced from their homes are passionate about their country and are already playing a role in its future. When refugees and people who were forced to leave eventually return home, they often suffer a second displacement when they are pushed aside by reconstruction processes that ignore their needs and plans. By gathering information from as wide a range of people as possible, we hope to challenge many of the assumptions about how reconstruction should be managed.

Over the next several months, we will post data snapshots highlighting different visions for Aleppo’s future. Our first snapshot is about restoring public services to rebel-held areas of the city.

Gathering data from refugees or from cities in the midst of conflict is difficult. These difficulties are amplified in Syria because people have lived in a very controlled and closed society for decades. In late 2014 and early 2015 we surveyed 1001 people, including 408 online surveys, 499 paper questionnaires from Aleppians in five Turkish cities, and 94 interviews in rebel-held Aleppo. Our overall sample skews towards more affluent, university-educated, younger male respondents with internet access. Each survey method has its problems and there is no doubt we have some sampling problems.

From December 14, 2014 to January 7, 2015 the Aleppo Project interviewed 94 men and women mostly in rebel-held Aleppo (a few were normally resident in rebel-held Aleppo but interviewed in Turkey) about their vision for the city. One of our questions was, “which public services should resume first?”

As you can see from the graph above, about 60 per cent want electricity or water restored to rebel-held Aleppo first. Another 20 per cent want public services, including security and a judiciary system or healthcare and schools restored first. The rest want telecommunication or other infrastructure restored first. We were not surprised by these results given that rebel-held Aleppo has had limited or intermittent access to these services since the conflict started.

Since we asked respondents open-ended questions about which services should resume first, many answered with more than one. For example, about 36 per cent of women (14 of 39) and 27 per cent of men (14 of 51) specifically said they wanted electricity AND water restored first.

Note that to capture the range of opinions, we weighted each individual’s response(s) and grouped them by category. For example, we combined schools and hospitals into one category, put sewage, roads and the airport in infrastructure, added the thermal station to electricity, and included security, civil defense, and a judicial system in the broader category of public services.

GENDER DIMENSION

As expected, we found differences in which services men and women want restored first. Although 52 per cent of men want electricity or water restored first, 70 per cent of women do. We speculate this is because women are responsible for daily tasks including cooking and washing that require electricity and water. We were not surprised that men were more interested in restoring infrastructure by a significant margin than women (see above) because humanitarian assessments show that as the conflict has spread, women’s ‘space’ has tended to shrink to their homes and immediate neighborhoods. On the other hand, given reports of women’s increased role in rebel-held Aleppo as teachers and providers of medical supplies, we were surprised that a higher percentage of men than women want schools and hospitals restored first.

AGE DIMENSION

Our interview sample of 94 included 51 men, 39 women, and four people who did not provide their gender. Six individuals did not provide their age. As you can see above, we interviewed a few more women under 24 years of age and 40 years of age or older than men and significantly more men than women in their mid-20s and 30s. Importantly, we only interviewed four males and no women 50 years of age or older and three men and six women between the ages of 40 and 49. This means that one should take particular care interpreting data based on age for those under 20 or over 39 years of age.

Especially given the age-related issues mentioned above, we needed another tool to analyze data based on age. By breaking the group into over and under 30 years of age, we created two groups of similar size—47 people under 30 years of age and 41 people 30 years of age or older. Of more interest, because our under 30 years of age group contains 23 men and 24 women, their views are equally represented in this age group. The same does not hold true for the 30 years of age and older group, which skews very heavily towards men in their 30s.With two notable exceptions, there was a weak correlation between age and which services should be restored first. We were not surprised that 11 per cent of those under 30 years of age want internet connections first as opposed to 4 per cent of those 30 years of age and older. According to a recent report on social media usage in Aleppo, internet use decreased with age. It was, however, interesting that only 9 per cent of younger respondents as opposed to 16 per cent of older respondents want schools or hospitals restored first. We speculate that younger respondents may be less concerned about schools and hospitals because a) they have finished school and do not yet have school-aged children and b) they may have lower instances than older adults of medical conditions such as diabetes or hypertension that would require routine medical care or medication.

Over the next few months, we’ll continue to provide data snapshots from our surveys. Comments, questions? We’d love to hear from you.

The post Restoring Public Services to Aleppo—Our first data snapshot appeared first on The Aleppo Project.