By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2023-09-21

Syrian regime forces and militias affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are pursuing a policy of starvation against regime opponents by imposing a tight siege on some areas and obstructing the entry of aid, activists said.

These areas include the eastern desert (Badiya), al-Rukban camp in the tri-border area of southern Syria, and the northwestern region, where the regime and its allies recently delayed the entry of international aid via Türkiye.

"Syrian regime forces and the Iranian militias are continuing to impose a tight siege on al-Rukban camp and some small villages near the camp," al-Rukban camp relief worker Tariq al-Nuaimi told Al-Fassel.

Conditions in the camp are getting worse by the day, he noted, with the price of food brought into the camp by some traders rising exponentially.

Children are the most affected by the siege and resulting shortage of food and infant formula, which has caused "some women to resort to boiling rice, grinding it and mixing with water to be used as a substitute for milk," he said.

"Others use starch dissolved in water" out of desperation, he said, suggesting that the regime hopes to use the siege to force camp residents to leave and return to regime-held areas.

But camp residents refuse to leave al-Rukban out of fear of what the regime will do to them, al-Nuaimi said, and are "standing together in symbiotic solidarity to hold out for as long as possible."

Support for al-Rukban

"International coalition forces and the Syrian Free Army [SFA, formerly known as Jaish Maghawir al-Thawra] are providing everything that can be provided to the residents of al-Rukban camp," SFA member Nasseef al-Khaledi told Al-Fassel.

This includes "food supplies and drinking water, in addition to health services and following up on the condition of people with chronic diseases, the elderly and children," he said.

These contributions are provided free of charge, under international coalition supervision.

The SFA also is creating job opportunities by supporting sewing workshops and factories to provide an opportunity for women and families to earn money, al-Khaledi added.

During the summer, the SFA also supported the cultivation of produce to be sold to camp residents at half the market price as an initiative to support the people and provide a more reliable source of food.

It also has worked to improve education for children in the camp by facilitating cooperation "between teachers and social workers to provide a normal school atmosphere for the children."

Impeding the entry of aid

In northwestern Syria, some 85% of United Nations (UN) aid for opposition-held areas is delivered via the Bab al-Hawa crossing with Türkiye, AFP reported.

Under a 2014 deal, aid for millions in the country's north and northwest had largely passed through the crossing without the authorisation of Damascus.

But in July, the UN Security Council failed to reach consensus on extending the mechanism, and the UN said a subsequent Syrian offer to keep the crossing open for another six months contained "unacceptable" conditions.

Last month, the UN said it would resume the aid deliveries after reaching an agreement with Damascus for a six-month period, in a deal that raised concerns among relief groups who wanted Syrian authorities kept out of the process.

And on Tuesday (September 19), UN aid for civilians entered northwest Syria via Bab al-Hawa crossing, the first such convoy since July.

Idlib city media activist Mahmoud Haj Kamel told Al-Fassel there is anger among the civilian population that regime ally Russia is impeding the entry of aid via Bab al-Hawa.

He described the obstruction of aid to opposition areas as a "Russian-Syrian tool to subjugate opposition areas and force them to make concessions, or at least force the displaced population to return to regime-controlled areas."

"The delayed arrival of aid to the northwestern region of Syria has exacerbated the living conditions of civilians, especially the displaced among them," he said.

These people are "totally dependent on aid in light of the lack of job opportunities and the insane rise in prices after the collapse of the exchange rate of the Syrian pound against foreign currencies, especially the US dollar."

Winter is just around the corner, he noted, which necessitates the entry of aid and heating fuel, in addition to medicines for the usual seasonal diseases, to which children and the elderly are among the most vulnerable.