From Daraa to Idlib - One Syrian lady's tale of displacement at the hands of Assad.

The longer this war goes on the more Assad tries to silence the truth. While he displaces thousands of Syrian families they never have the chance to speak out. What was it like in Daraa? What was it like to lose your home yet again at the hands of the President and the Russians? Where do they go? What do they do?

These people have fears and worries and nobody seems to listen nor care. This is not the first time these people have faced displacement. This is just a continuation of homelessness and fear they have suffered for the past seven years. Nobody spoke up about Aleppo, nobody spoke up about Eastern Ghouta. Nobody spoke up about Daraa. We are asking you please to speak up about Idlib.

These are not terrorists as Assad makes out. These are human beings with families and children and they need our support. These are the thoughts of a lady in her 40's that was displaced from Daraa and found herself displaced in Idlib with the threat of Assad and Russia breathing down her
neck.

The period I spent in Daraa from June 19 to July 21, 2018 was a very difficult period when the Russians and the regime in Syria began shelling Daraa to get them out of opposition control.

During this period I moved from the countryside to the western countryside to live with my friends and families of hundreds of thousands of displaced people to the city of Quneitra. I settled in the village of Rafid, one of the villages under the 1974 agreement between Israel and Syria that made a
number of Quneitra villages "demilitarised zones".

I stayed in the plains about 15 days, after the areas beyond the control of the opposition in Daraa dropped into the hands of the Russians. The regime came close to Quineitra but the Russians negotiated and instead we were displaced to Idlib.

My friends, myself and thousands of opponents of the Russians and the regime chose to move to the City of Idlib. The decision was very difficult for us because we were going into the unknown. I decided to go to Idlib after a severe psychological conflict. I was afraid to return to Assad's regime. I was afraid of the unknown. After a conflict with myself I decided that I would go to Idlib but I would not stay there long.

I arrived in Idlib with about 3000 people on 22/7/2018. Our journey lasted more than 24 hours from Daraa to Idlib. Our buses were detained by the Shiite militia in Homs for 7 hours. In fact the trip was very tiring and very stressful.

I am very tired and sad because of what happened in Daraa. I am currently planning to go to Turkey and try to find help. I do not plan to stay in Idlib because the Russians and Assad are threatening the city. I do not want to live the tragedy twice.

After the fatigue I have lived I dream of meeting my family. I want to live in a place where there is no shelling and fighting. I dream of peace and I want to sleep without anxiety.

Getting to Turkey is never easy, smuggling routes are very dangerous. Many people have died on smuggling routes. I will try and find the best and safest way to get to Turkey.

In fact I do not have enough money. Smugglers demand about US$2000 per person which is a very high sum. I will try and find other ways through organisations or knowledge. In both cases it is very difficult.

I am worried and afraid I do not want to repeat the tragedy of Daraa in Idlib. I want to get out as soon as possible. I will never lose hope and I will still try. I want to say that we may have lost our homeland but we have every faith that we will be and Syria will someday be better.