UN report: Syria experiencing ‘unprecedented displacement level’

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic said yesterday that internal displacement has reached an unprecedented level this year, not seen since the war broke out in 2011.

In a report the commission said that more than one million people, including children, have been displaced because of attacks carried out by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad against areas controlled by armed opposition groups during the first six months of the year.

“Most of those civilians who had been forcibly displaced from their homes are now left in appalling living conditions,” it said.

Read: More than 30,000 displaced in Syria’s latest Idlib offensive

The commission warned of the possibility of repeating this scenario in the province of Idlib if negotiations fail.

The report pointed to the difficult humanitarian situation in the provinces of Aleppo, northern Homs, Damascus, Daraa and Idlib, which were subjected to intensive attacks by regime forces up to mid-June.

The report also stressed that war crimes have been committed in those areas including indiscriminate attacks, the targeting of protected sites, using prohibited weapons, theft and displacement among others.