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Longing for Brighter Days: Reflections from Syria’s Internally Displaced

Afrin, Syria – In a camp for displaced people in Syria, five children are playing, blissfully unaware of the gravity of their situation. Their grandmother watches them, her heart heavy from the loss of her two sons in air strikes last November.

For Warda and her family, everything happened so quickly. Renewed shelling. The decision to flee. The fall of the Assad regime. “We did not even have time to bring anything but the clothes on our backs,” she says.

Warda, her two daughters-in-law and grandkids found themselves in yet another camp for internally displaced people, in Aleppo governorate’s Afrin district. It is not their first experience with displacement. They had already been previously living in a tent for six years.

But things feel different slightly this time. While grappling with the fact that her two sons are gone, Warda holds a sense of hope that better days lie ahead.

Warda’s story is no different from millions of others in Syria.

At its peak in December, 1.1 million were newly displaced following the lightning offensive that led to the regime’s downfall. Over 555,000 have since returned to their communities of origin by the end of January. Prior to all this, 7.4 million people were already internally displaced, and 16.7 million relied on humanitarian assistance.

“We lost our home due to the bombing,” says Ali, another who was recently displaced. “We were left without food or water.”

Ali does not know where to begin addressing his immediate needs. “I’m the breadwinner for my three daughters. We have no money, my wife is paralyzed, and I have a heart disease. I can’t afford to buy a single pill.”

The creeping cold of winter brings additional challenges. “We have no firewood. We burn sticks and olive trees to keep warm. Things are very difficult.”

The jubilation of a new dawn in Syria is tempered by the reality that millions are still struggling, and that reconstruction is a long path ahead.

Warda’s and Ali’s families are among 80,000 that have so far received essential supplies from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – blankets, mattresses, plastic sheets, water cans, solar lamps and more. This was a key component of IOM’s immediate response in the northwest, leveraging its well-established logistics network from Türkiye.

IOM has reached 220,000 with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, including hygiene kits distribution, water trucking, desludging and solid waste management. The Organization has also assisted 14,000 with multipurpose cash and is providing tailored protection assistance to the most at-risk, such as children, women-headed households and the elderly.

While the cross-border operation has been a lifeline in Idleb and northern Aleppo, IOM is appealing for USD 73 million to do more nationwide and reach a further 1.1 million.

“We are finally re-establishing our presence in Damascus and building on our large network of partners to support many more in need,” remarks Othman Belbeisi, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “We have also deployed a team of recovery and stabilization experts, to support laying the way for the dignified return of those in Syria and in other countries.”

For Warda and Ali, the future remains uncertain.

“Our wish is to return to our villages, build homes for our children and educate them,” expresses Warda. “But for now, we need clothes, pocket money, firewood for heating, new tents in case we stay here longer.”

Ali shares the same vision but is unsure where to start picking up the pieces. His grandson chimes in: “My dream is to go to school, but the schools were destroyed. I’m now 15 years old but can’t read or write.”

Rebuilding an entire nation will be an immense task, but one that millions of Syrians are ready to tackle head-on. They deserve every ounce of support in this journey.

“We hope that the future of our children will be better,” Warda notes. “After all the difficulties we have lived through, we will see better days ahead.”

IOM’s top strategic objective is to save lives, protect people on the move and find solutions to internally displaced populations by providing urgent essential needs inside their homelands otherwise people will have no choice but to cross borders. In 2024, the organization provided life-saving support to almost 32 million people in 168 countries and expanded programs supporting internally displaced persons in over 20 countries around the world.

IOM’s humanitarian response in Syria has been made possible with the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office, Government of Kuwait, and Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund (SCHF).

Written by Miko Alazas, IOM Media and Communications Officer

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well Being
SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
SDG 16 - Peace Justice and Strong Institutions
WRITTEN BY
Miko Alazas

Communications Officer, IOM Türkiye 

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