Displacement of people, designed to cause depopulation, became a key part of the Syrian regime's attempts to re-establish control of suburban areas of Damascus during the civil war, a study says.
Families faced sieges, aerial bombardments and the use of weapons likely to produce massive civilian casualties, including chemical weapons, 'earthquake' and 'vacuum' bombs and unguided munitions, according to the research.
Damascus was a centre of regime strength and a key focus for the opposition, which controlled parts of the city just a few miles from key centres and institutions.
The displacement strategy only took root as the regime struggled to adjust to losing control of substantial parts of the country and sought to re-establish its political authority and make political and military gains.
Displacement involved the wholesale removal or 'depopulation' of communities deemed to be disloyal. Guilt was assumed based on location and retribution was indiscriminate.
Forced relocation involving sieges became common from 2017 onwards, leading to huge suffering.
The regime's security grip on the city, which extended to prohibiting NGOs from operating within the city, meant the actions were not known in detail at the time.
Dr Samer Bakkour, from the University of Exeter, analysed reports by the UN and NGOs and conducted interviews conducted with displaced persons who had previously lived in Damascus and its rural areas and had been involved anti-regime political activism, with some having been associated with the armed opposition.
Dr Bakkour said: "Throughout, the regime's approach remained somewhat crude, disproportionate, and unsophisticated. It placed a stronger emphasis on creating divides between rebels and the civilian population than on engaging on a psychological level with non-combatants. 'Scaled-up' displacement sought to depopulate target areas through relocation agreements and then profoundly alter their social and physical appearance."
The civil war began following efforts to crush popular protests during the Arab Spring in 2011. This then resulted in the emergence of armed groups in the country and the establishment of an armed opposition, which included both secular and religious/jihadist elements, which then seized territory and key economic, political and strategic parts of the country.
The opposition fragmented into a disparate array of groups, priorities and contending interests. International influence also became more pronounced, especially from 2015 onwards following Russian and Iranian intervention.
The regime prevented civil protests from reaching Damascus City.
Over the course of the war, residents were displaced from areas in the line of fire – Al-Tadamon, Al-Qaboun, Barzeh, Jobar, and Al-Yarmouk – to safer areas such as Jaramana, Qudssaya and Al-Mazzeh, but were physically prevented by regime forces from entering majority Alawite neighbourhoods such as Ish Al-Woror.
In Yarmouk Camp, one of the first outlying areas to revolt, the regime used indiscriminate violence when it seized the camp in December 2012 to force residents to demonstrate their political loyalties.
As the siege tightened, only civilians left the camp, as armed fighters refused to pass through enemy lines because they feared they would be arrested or even killed, but they were attacked by the regime as they left.
When ISIS seized Al-Hajar Al-Aswad this led to large-scale population displacement to neighbouring regions and towns. Regime and shabiha forces imposed a siege and cut off the electricity and water.
Other areas were bombed and besieged with the aims of preventing the opposition from advancing on the city. This involved the use of chemical weapons and cluster, 'earthquake' and 'vacuum' bombs. Failure to flee was deemed to confirm the resident population's guilt.
