The purpose of this report is to provide relevant information for the assessment of international protection status determination, including refugee status and subsidiary protection, and in particular for use in updating EUAA’s country guidance development on Syria.
The report covers the period of August 2022 – August 2023, and provides an update of the EUAA COI report: Syria - Security situation (September 2022). The report should be read in conjunction with the EUAA COI report: Syria - Country Focus (October 2023).
The security situation report examines the nature of armed conflicts taking place in the territory, the nature of the violence and presence of armed actors in different areas, and the impact on civilians, for example in terms of casualties/fatalities and conflict-linked displacement.
The drafting of this report was finalised on 31 August 2023. Any event taking place after this date is not included in this report.
This report was jointly drafted by the EUAA COI Sector together with:
- Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD)
- France, Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA), Information, Documentation and Research Division.
The following department has reviewed this report:
Belgium, Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS), Centre for Documentation and Research (Cedoca).
This report was written according to the EUAA COI Report Methodology (2023) and the EUAA COI Writing and Referencing Guide (2023).
Policy
Since 2011, Syria has been involved in a bloody, internal armed conflict which has resulted in a very high number of victims, displaced persons and refugees. The opposing parties do not spare the civilian population. Every day, on a large scale and in the most barbaric manner, both the Syrian army and the armed opposition forces violate international humanitarian law and human rights. In many cases, civilians are targeted for ethnic or religious reasons or because they are perceived to be part of another political movement.
In recent years, the Syrian army managed to recapture significant parts of the country from the rebels or jihadists. An analysis of the security situation shows that the number of military confrontations in Syria has clearly decreased since the second half of 2018, that the impact of the conflict in Syria now differs considerably from region to region, and that Syria as of 2020 can be divided into five geographical zones.
The civil war has had a devastating impact on the civilian population. There are estimated to be a total of 13.4 million Syrians who, as a result of the armed conflict, require humanitarian assistance. This is an increase of 21% compared to 2020. More than 90% are said to be living below the poverty line. 6.1 million Syrians are displaced within Syria. In addition, 5.6 million have fled the country.