ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s offensive in northeast Syria could “immediately displace at least 300,000 people and disrupt lifesaving humanitarian services”, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has warned.
Thousands of civilians have already been displaced, Kurdish officials said Wednesday, as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in neighboring northern Iraq braces for a fresh wave of refugees.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the launch of ‘Operation Peace Spring’ at about 4pm local time on Wednesday “to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border, and to bring peace to the area.”
Related: Turkey begins ground offensive against Syria Kurds following US withdrawal
Turkish forces and its Syrian proxies bombarded the bordering areas of al-Malikiya (Derik), Qamishli, Derbasiye, Ras al-Ain (Sare Kaniye), and Tal Abyad (Gire Spi) and other areas on Wednesday evening, forcing residents to flee to neighboring Hasaka.
The ground offensive began about 10:30pm, according to the Turkish defense ministry.
The new offensive raises the prospect of further mass displacement in a region already battered by Syria’s eight-year civil war and the battle to defeat the Islamic State group (ISIS).
Photos captured by AFP in the area showed families fleeing with their belongings.
IRC warned on its website that the offensive could “immediately displace at least 300,000 people and disrupt lifesaving humanitarian services”.
“The IRC is deeply concerned about the lives and livelihoods of the 2 million civilians in northeastern Syria, who have already survived ISIS brutality and multiple displacements.”
It urged the international community to “consider the humanitarian consequences” to help “avoid any further unnecessary suffering of a beleaguered civilian population”.
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), which shares a strategic border with the Kurdish-majority region of northern Syria known as Rojava, already hosts roughly 225,000 Syrian Kurds fleeing the civil war, poverty, conscription, and Turkish threats.
“The consequences of military escalation have implications far beyond Syria’s borders, creating the conditions for a return of ISIS and a mass displacement of people,” the KRG warned in a statement on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the French humanitarian aid organization ACTED told Rudaw on Tuesday that NGOs operating in the KRI are not prepared for a fresh wave of Syrian refugees.
“There is capacity … however planning has only been done for the potential of up to 30,000 Iraqis returning from Al-Hol camp and has nothing to do with any new wave of Syrian Kurdish refugees,” he said.
“It should be stressed that the humanitarian community including ACTED have done a lot in the care, maintenance and planning to improve the standard of living, but there has been very little to no funding available anymore for humanitarian crisis in KRI since the notion has moved to more longer-term, durable solutions,” he added.
Despite these warning, Sheikhmus Ahmed, head of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) office for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), told Rudaw he does not expect a mass exodus across the KRI border.
Many families are now being housed in school buildings, he said, adding there are currently no plans to set up camps.
“There is no need for people to go outside Syria,” Ahmed said, but urged KRG authorities in the neighboring Kurdistan Region of Iraq to “provide us with logistic aid”.
The Turkish offensive also raises serious fears about the fate of Al-Hol, an SDF-controlled camp containing the families of Islamic State (ISIS) militants, including hundreds of foreigners. Several makeshift prisons also hold ISIS captives, which the SDF warn could be turned loose amid the chaos.
Photos: Delil Souleiman / AFP