News and Events

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Aleppo city has fallen. The Assad Regime has re-imposed its authority over eastern Aleppo.
However, the relevancy of the Aleppo Governorate is no less diminished. As the war enters
its eighth year, the majority of fighting has shifted north where the many actors have gathered
to determine the fate of their claimed territories. Under the control of various militaries,
both foreign and domestic, the nearly six million inhabitants of the region are left with little
control over who governs them and how.

Article by Nora Palandjian, Aleppo Project Research Intern

Offspring of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are at a heightened risk of statelessness due to barriers they face in the process of birth registration. A series of 2015 changes in residency renewal requirements and the discontinuation of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) registration directly led to this increased risk among Syrian refugee children. While already part of a generation with protracted refugee status, children who do not get registered will face a lifetime of challenges accessing basic human rights, protections, and services.

As of March 2018, 384,425 Aleppians remain internally displaced inside Syria with 62,970 residing in Idlib governorate. This portion in Idlib represents 16.3 percent of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) from Aleppo. The approximately other 83 percent that was displaced by the conflict relocated inside of Aleppo governorate (70 percent) or Ar-Raqqa (13 percent).[1]

This report focuses on the residents of Aleppo that are displaced within rebel-held areas, specifically Idlib governorate. These IDPs face the most difficult barriers to return to their homes in eastern Aleppo, a regime-held area. Their current conditions are insecure with continued violence in the region and little economic security. They live in dire conditions with makeshift and rented houses. They have limited access to healthcare and education facilities for their children. Despite being on Syrian territory only a few kilometers from their home they are not able to return.

As part of its annual Lemkin Reunion, The Shattuck Center on Conflict, Negotiation and Recovery at CEU's School of Public Policy hosted in Budapest the 4th Lemkin Reunion. The topic was on displaced Syrians and the obstacles to return, with a panel discussion with:

Basel Aljunaidy, Director of Orient Policy Center, Gaziantep