Situation Overview
Since the outbreak of conflict on 9 October 2019, residents of Northeast Syria (NES) are experiencing a new humanitarian crisis, resulting in massive displacement from the region, both internally and, to a lesser extent, towards the KR-I. As of 19 November, the UN estimated that nearly 75,438 people2 remain displaced, while UNHCR reported 18,223 refugees1 crossing into the KR-I between 9 October and 16 December. Days after a ceasefire agreement was reached on 17 October,3 a sharp decrease in daily refugee arrivals was observed. New refugee arrivals have been screened between the villages of Al Walid, Sahila and Kalhi in the KR-I, and have then been moved to Bardarash and Gawilan camps for registration.
There were on average 51 new arrivals per day over the last week, which is a slight decrease compared to previous weeks. Numbers have been fluctuating on a daily basis, which may in part be due to adverse weather conditions. In this update, the most commonly reported recent districts of residence in Syria were Ain Al-Arab and Qamishli. This is similar to previous rounds. Furthermore, travelling by foot remained the primary mode of transportation, and was reported by 81% of KIs. Most groups were able to complete the journey to the border in a day, though 41% reported having travelled for several days. For most travel groups, lack of water, lack of food and challenges of travelling with children and elderly were reported as the most commonly encountered difficulties on the journey. Similar to former updates, KIs reported that the arrival of armed groups and airstrikes were the most common push factors to leave their place of residence in Syria.