06 Mar 2021; MEMO: Due to the relative calm in Idlib since 5 March, 2020, over 282,000 displaced Syrians have returned to their homes in the area, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.
On 5 March, 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached a ceasefire in Idlib that took effect on 6 March, 2020.
Director of the Response Coordinators team in North Syria Muhammad Hallaj said that civilians started to immediately return home following the ceasefire.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Hallaj confirmed: "Some 282,544 civilians returned to their homes in the countrysides of Aleppo and Idlib after the ceasefire."
He emphasised that the returnees are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
In addition, he explained that the unexploded ordnance left by the Syrian regime forces is one of the most dangerous threats facing the returnees.
Anadolu Agency reported that there is no precise number for the displaced people of Idlib and Aleppo, however, Hallaj expects more refugees to return to their homes if the ceasefire continues.
Returnees have hailed Turkey for its efforts to reach the ceasefire. "In addition to the ceasefire, the existence of the Turkish soldiers in the area contributed to calming down the area and stopping the aerial attacks," Naheda Hindawi, who recently returned to her home in Idlib countryside, told Anadolu Agency.
Hindawi said that she had fled her house due to the Syrian regime's extensive attacks in her hometown.
Since 2011, millions of Syrian refugees have been displaced and hundreds of thousands killed after the Syrian regime violently cracked down on the peaceful protesters who called on the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to step down.
