HADEEL AL-OMAR 

Idlib- The people of Idlib have condemned the recent military maneuvers in NE Syria, such as the digging of a trench isolating Idlib from regime- controlled areas by the occupying Turkish state. The digging of the trench ends their prospects of returning to previously occupied territories that they had been displaced.

The Turkish army began digging the trench in early April under the excuse of protecting the borders and preventing abuses, smuggling, and booby-traps that have spread throughout the region. The trench covers roughly 10,000 square meters, home to about five million people.

Many protests have been held in Idlib against the digging of the trench and during the protests, the people have called on the occupying Turkish state, its mercenaries, and military groups to respect their right to return to their territories, to stop digging the trench, and to stop dividing their lands into two parts.

They want to return to their homes

Civilians in Idlib have different thoughts about the trench, but they all agree on one thing: they want to return to their homes and reject any efforts that divide their city and impose final borders.

"What is happening now foretells covert plots, and we reject them completely because they prevent us from returning to our homes from which we were displaced,” says 33-year-old activist Salma al-Qash, who lives in Idlib now but one of the displaced from Maarat al-Numan.

“Digging the trench cannot prevent smuggling and abuses, as Turkey claims,” she explained, "But it can draw permanent borders and force us to accept the imposed reality, and all Turkish statements are propaganda aiming to hide its crimes and serve its interest. Everything is all about using Idlib as a bargaining chip in order to negotiate when it starts its demographic transformation operation in northern Syria.”

44-year-old Rabaa Hamdan, a displaced person from Sufuhun and a resident of the Sarmada camps, condemned the latest moves, describing them a betrayal against the grieving people who have lost everything they had and become displaced facing poverty, displacement, and loss.

She thinks that the recent plans are not in the interests of civilians at all, but rather aim to change the agenda that has nothing to do with the Syrian people's desires.

Pointing out that the villages that Turkey has been building in the northwest of Idlib to settle refugees and displaced people, claiming that these areas are safe and houses are being built for the displaced familiesü Rabaa Hamdan said that the dwellings are tiny and in poor condition and inappropriate for any family.

Support displaced people to return their homes

Ruba Haj Ahmed, 28, an education worker and a displaced person from the town of Hass and lives in the city of Maarat Misrin, , calls on the military factions to support the displaced people to their cities and villages instead of cooperating with Turkey to achieve its expansion goals in Idlib and Aleppo.

Preventing displaced people from returning to their homeland is a betrayal

25-year-old Joy Al-Alloush called any "military or other moves preventing displaced people from returning to their homeland is a betrayal against the hopes of the people."

34-year-old Safiya Manaf tries not to lose her hope of returning to her hometown of Khan Sheikhoun although what is going on is pessimistic. “After years of suffering, we hope we can return to our homeland,” she said.

More than 1.5 million displaced people since April 2019

Despite the international community's silence against rights violations, bombings, and displacement in Idlib, the displaced people are still hopeful to return their homelands.

The number of displaced persons from northern Aleppo, Idlib, and Hama has reached over 1.5 million since April 2019, and they have been living in 1,277 camps, including 366 random camps hosting about 184,000 people, according to a recent report released by the "Syria Response Coordinators" team.