Syrian Arab Republic: Aleppo Situation Report No. 13 (12 January 2017) [EN/AR]

Highlights

• Of the more than 111,000 people who formerly resided in east Aleppo remain in Aleppo city, 56,054 remained or re-registered in east Aleppo. 50,830 are registered as sheltering in west Aleppo, and 5,077 remain in the Jibreen collective shelter.

• As the vast majority of IDPs reside in at least partially damaged houses in east Aleppo, systematic structural assessments urgently need to be carried out before any shelter intervention can take place.

• Additionally, modalities need to be identified to support the host families of IDPs residing with relatives and acquaintances in west Aleppo

• The United Nations and their humanitarian partners continue to have access to all but one non-civilian neighborhood in former east Aleppo.

Situational Overview

As the security situation in Aleppo city remained comparatively calm during the reporting period, more and more displaced families returned to their homes in east Aleppo. To date, a total of 56,054 individuals have been officially registered in east Aleppo neighbourhoods. Most residents are scattered across various neighbourhoods with Hanano boosting the largest number of returnees to date (12,575). Additionally, Tariq Al-Bab, Al-Kalaseh and Bustan Al-Qaser witnessed their highest levels of returns this week. Most of the returnees now live in at least partially damaged houses, and all areas require a proper, systematic structural assessment to be carried out before any shelter intervention can take place.

To further facilitate safe returns, the ongoing efforts to remove UXOs and debris need to continue. In parallel, the UN and its humanitarian partners are continuing their risk education efforts to inform civilians about the danger of unexploded remnants of war and practical steps residents can take to protect themselves.

In west Aleppo, some 50,830 IDPs from east Aleppo remain displaced, with the majority of them staying with relatives and acquaintances. Modalities have to be identified to support these host families who are not only sharing their physical space, but sometimes also take on additional financial burdens. Structural assessments were carried out in some west Aleppo neighbourhoods, such as Al-Midan, Al-Faed, Al-Zahraa, and were identified by the Governorate as priority areas for rehabilitation.

The collective shelters in Jibreen zone 1 and 2 currently host 5,077 IDPs. According to the latest assessment by a NGO partner, only 9 per cent of those accommodated in Jibreen are planning to return to their homes. Out of those interviewed, 80 per cent reported that their houses had been fully or partially damaged, only 5 per cent had undamaged homes to return to, and 15 per cent of those interviewed had no information as to the state of their houses.

Field visits to neighborhoods in the Old City of Aleppo have identified new protection concerns, including women and girls married to men who have since abandoned them or were evacuated from Aleppo. Additionally, looting is frequently cited as one of the main concerns by residents of east Aleppo, on par with access to water and electricity.

Throughout the reporting period, service provision for more than 36,000 people who were evacuated into the West Aleppo countryside and into Idleb continued.