• India has advised its citizens to avoid travelling to Syria and urged those staying in that country to exercise “utmost precaution” and restrict their movements.

• In an advisory, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) asked the Indians living in the violence-hit country to leave by the earliest available commercial flights if they can.

• The rebels had almost taken control of the central Syrian city of Homs after capturing much of Aleppo, the country’s largest city.

• More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group. 

• The MEA urged the Indians residing in Syria to remain in touch with the Indian embassy in Damascus.

• Those who can, are advised to leave by the earliest available commercial flights and others are requested to observe utmost precaution about their safety and restrict their movements to the minimum, MEA said.

Situation in Syria

• The crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic is extending into its fourteenth year – with more people than ever sliding into deeper poverty and 16.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. 

• After over a decade of conflict, Syria remains the world’s largest refugee crisis. Since 2011, more than 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety. More than 7.2 million Syrians remain internally displaced in their own country. 

• Adding to the suffering, Syria is grappling with the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquakes in February 2023, which inflicted severe human and material damage.

• Approximately 5.5 million Syrian refugees live in the five countries neighbouring Syria — Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Germany is the largest non-neighbouring host country with more than 850,000 Syrian refugees.

• Over half a million people have fled Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and crossed into Syria since late September, and there remains a steady flow of movement, with thousands of people driven across the border into Syria every day.

• Renewed fighting last week led by the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other armed groups has engulfed parts of Aleppo, Idlib and Hama, shifting frontlines that had remained unchanged since 2020.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for an end to the fighting in Syria.

When did the Syrian refugee crisis begin?

The Syrian refugee crisis began in March 2011 as a result of a violent government crackdown on public demonstrations in support of teenagers who were arrested for anti-government graffiti in the southern town of Daraa. The arrests sparked public demonstrations throughout Syria which were violently suppressed by government security forces. The conflict quickly escalated and the country descended into a civil war that forced millions of Syrian families to flee their homes. 

Where do Syrian refugees live?

• Syrian refugees have sought asylum in more than 130 countries, but the vast majority live in neighbouring countries within the region.

• Approximately 92 per cent of refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries live in rural and urban settings, with only roughly five percent living in refugee camps. However, living outside refugee camps does not necessarily mean success or stability. More than 70 per cent of Syrian refugees are living in poverty, with limited access to basic services, education or job opportunities and few prospects of returning home.

• Millions of refugees have lost their livelihoods and are increasingly unable to meet their basic needs — including accessing clean water, electricity, food, medicine and paying rent. 

• The economic downturn has also exposed them to multiple protection risks, such as child labor, gender-based violence, early marriage and other forms of exploitation.

UN’s peace plan 

• The UN Security Council passed a resolution in 2015 aimed at ending the conflict, calling for a new constitution, UN-supervised elections and transparent and accountable governance.

• Implementation has gone nowhere. UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen said the escalation showed a collective failure to bring about a political process and urged substantive negotiations to find a way out of the conflict.

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