AMMAN: The global landmine clearance charity The HALO Trust has issued a stark warning that northwest Syria is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe after opposition forces Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched their largest offensive against the Government of Syria in years, triggering a new phase in the country’s protracted 13-year civil war.
The HALO Trust, which has been clearing explosive munitions from opposition-controlled northwest Syria since 2017, cautions that an influx of civilians fleeing one warzone for another will exacerbate the existing dire humanitarian crisis already faced by internally displaced people (IDPs). The impending winter season brings plummeting temperatures and adverse weather conditions, which will only deepen the crisis.
Damian O’Brien Program Manager of HALO Syria said:
“The opposition-held northwest provinces of Aleppo and Idlib have a population of more than five million Syrians, of whom half are already internally displaced. They are sheltering in an area smaller than Northern Ireland, which is littered with rockets, mortars, cluster munitions, and landmines.
“The HALO Trust is the only humanitarian mine clearance organization on the ground, with funding for only 40 Syrian male and female deminers. These incredible people – many of whom are also IDPs – have cleared more than 1,500 dangerous explosive items and responded to over 100 emergency calls in the last three months alone.
“The reignition of the diplomatically ‘frozen’ conflict in Syria is a stark reminder that too many unresolved conflicts are simply forgotten or overlooked in a world raging with war. HALO works in many fragile areas that are vulnerable to sudden reignition, including Yemen and Iraq. Left simmering out of the spotlight, the international community ignores these prolonged conflicts at their peril.
This is a period of intense change in the broader Middle East region. However, change of any kind creates opportunity for organizations such as HALO to broaden our operation and help more people.”
