Turkey’s offensive on Kurdish positions in northeastern Syria after United States pulled out its troops from the country, has forced 130,000 people to flee their homes, the UN said Sunday, adding it was preparing for that figure to more than triple.
“We have moved into a planning scenario where up to 400,000 people could be displaced within and across the affected areas,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA told news agency AFP, adding that these people would be “in need of assistance and protection.”
The UN had said Friday that some 100,000 people had been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of Turkey’s military incursion on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump ordered American troops to pull back from the border.
But by Sunday it warned of further displacements from rural areas around Tell Abiad and Ras al-Ain with latest estimates “surpassing 130,000 people.”
“Exact numbers cannot yet be ascertained,” the agency said in a updated assessment document. Most of the displaced had reached relatives or host communities, but growing numbers were arriving at collective shelters, including in schools. The UN warned of the impact of any further escalation of Turkey’s offensive or of sudden shifts in control over territory.
“Concerns remain grave around the risks facing thousands of vulnerable displaced persons, including women and children in various (displacement) camps,” it said, pointing to Al-Hol, a camp holding relatives of IS suspects that lies outside the area targeted by Turkey.
On October 10, US President Donald Trump did issue a mild warning to Turkey from initiating the Syria offensive against the Kurdish forces with whom US forces worked closely to defeat the ISIS.
….the area and start a new war all over again. Turkey is a member of NATO. Others say STAY OUT, let the Kurds fight their own battles (even with our financial help). I say hit Turkey very hard financially & with sanctions if they don’t play by the rules! I am watching closely.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2019
The UN said that there were many other humanitarian consequences to the military assault, which is being conducted on multiple fronts along the border. It also voiced concern for the safety of the staff of the 113 UN and other international aid organisations operating in the area, and had cut international staff numbers to 200 from normal levels of 384.
Turkey’s Syria offensive on Kurdish forces despite US President Donald Trump’s warning has compelled France and Germany to suspend arms exports to Turkey as protesters denounced Ankara at rallies in several European cities. A number of countries have condemned Turkey’s offensive, and Finland, Norway and The Netherlands have already announced that they are stopping arms exports to the country.
(With inputs from AFP)