Escalating Syrian regime violence in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province leaves civilians in the region with a limited space to escape, driving some people to find unusual ways to take cover. Some locals in Idlib have started to take refuge in cemeteries in the region to try to avoid falling victim to Assad forces’ attacks.
Leaving their home because of the Assad regime's aggression, a family of five took shelter at a cemetery in a village near the Turkish border. The family huddles together in a one-room mausoleum in the cemetery to hide from regime attacks and bitterly cold winter weather, while the family's three children play games among the tombs in the graveyard.
When the family first left their home, they were unable to find proper shelter and had to stay under the trees in an olive grove. After reaching the graveyard, the family found shelter in the mausoleum, where a regional, religious figure named Sheikh Ahmad is interred. The mausoleum has now been hosting the Syrian family for almost a month.
Speaking to Doğan News Agency (DHA), the father of the family Ebu Yusuf said they had to leave their home after a bomb dropped next to their house.
"We have collected our properties and got onto a motorcycle and left the village. We came here and left our properties under the trees. We have spent a few days under the olive trees. I looked for a room and a shelter; however, I couldn’t find anything," he said.
Recounting that his children were about to die because of the cold, Yusuf said just when they started to sink into despair, the locals informed them that there was a covered room in the graveyard.
"I could have done anything for my children," he said.
"I prefer to live in the cemetery as it saves my children from being killed out in the cold. I couldn’t find a room, couldn’t buy a shelter. I don’t have enough money to rent an apartment either," the father said, explaining his situation.
Refugees have difficulty finding a proper place to live due to the lack of campsites, infrastructure and the excessive amount of refugees in the camps.
In the latest round of violence in Syria's nearly nine-year war, regime forces in recent weeks have upped their deadly bombardment of Idlib, an opposition bastion in the northwestern part of the country.
Rescue services and witnesses say the bombing campaign that has killed several thousand civilians has left many towns in ruins and knocked out dozens of medical centers.
Idlib is dominated by opposition groups and is also home to 3 million civilians. The U.N. has warned of the growing risk of a humanitarian catastrophe in the region, which lies along the Turkish border.