North West Syria Protection Analysis Update

Over a decade of sustained conflict, protracted and multiple displacements, violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws, and endemic violence have led to an acute protection crisis in North-West Syria (NWS). The continuing impact of conflict has depleted the resources and capacity for resilience of the 4.4 million individuals living in this area of Syria. The vast majority of the region’s population were forcibly displaced to the North-West because of conflict in other parts of Syria. They are now trapped by a border wall and conflict frontlines, unable to escape the extreme violence and poverty that have become part of everyday life in the North-West.

North-West Syria

This report, highlighting the protection risks in NWS, is part of a series of regional Whole of Syria Protection Analysis Updates (PAUs).The most severe protection risks identified in the period covered by this report are: (1) Ongoing Attacks Against Civilians and Civilian Infrastructure, in Violation of Human Rights and IHL, (2) Continued Practice of Arbitrary Arrest & Detention, Torture and Ill-Treatment, (3) Pervasive Gender-Based Violence, with Limited Availability of Preventive & Responsive GBV Services, (4) Worsening Trends with Respect to Child Marriage, (5) High Prevalence of Fatalities, Injuries & Movement Restrictions Due to Widespread Explosive Hazard Contamination, (6) Barriers to Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and Older Persons Persist, (7) Widespread Reliance on Child Labor by Impoverished Families, (8) Increasing Rates of Psychosocial Distress among Children and Caregivers, (9) Continued Inability to Secure Civil Status Documentation Due to Lack of GoS Civil Registries in NWS, (10) Systemic Challenges in Exercising Housing, Land & Property (HLP) Rights, and Forced Evictions from Informal Sites.