On 8 December 2024, the dictatorship in Syria collapsed. For more than fifty years, the Assad family had brutally oppressed the population. Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia. The new strongman in Damascus is now the Islamist militia leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who heads a transitional government of the HTS militia. Al-Sharaa and the militia Hayat Tahrir al Sham, an Al-Qaeda offshoot that has controlled the Idlib region for years, now want to reorganise the balance of power throughout Syria and give the new state an Islamic face. Women’s organisations in particular have therefore already warned of further marginalisation and disenfranchisement.
After the fall of Assad, many people in Syria initially celebrated, including in Rojava. The ‘Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’ is in negotiations with the new rulers in Damascus about a future Syria. And even though Al-Sharaa has announced that he wants to protect ethnic minorities such as the Kurds in Syria, he has so far clearly refused to build a truly democratic and federal Syria. For the Autonomous Administration, which is committed to radical democracy, gender equality and religious freedom, difficult times lie ahead with the new Islamist HTS government.
Islamist and Turkish attacks
At the same time, Rojava is facing an existential and immediate threat from another side. Since the fall of Assad, the Autonomous Administration has been under constant attack from the Islamist ‘Syrian National Army’ (SNA), which is supported by Turkey. ISIS-sleeper cells are also becoming more active again and seizing the opportunity.
After Turkey had already invaded northern Syria several times in violation of international law, SNA militias captured the city of Tell Rifaat north of Aleppo and the city of Manbij west of the Euphrates in early December 2024. Both Arab-dominated areas had been under the self-administration since the liberation from ISIS. Since then, the Euphrates has formed the front line between the SNA and the Autonomous Administration. Despite a ceasefire brokered by the US, SNA attacks occur almost daily. An attempted attack on the city of Kobanê, which is only around 30 kilometres from the front line, has so far been repelled. Kobanê became a global symbol in the fight against ISIS in 2014/15.
The humanitarian consequences of the SNA attacks are devastating. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that serious human rights violations were committed by the invading troops after the battles for Manbij. SNA militiamen are said to have executed wounded fighters from the self-administration in a hospital. Three employees of the organisation Zenobiya, which campaigns for the rights and concerns of Arab women in North and East Syria, were killed. In addition, looting against the Kurdish population in the multi-ethnic city is said to have taken place.
Renewed displacement and hardship
Many people have also been forced to flee from the areas occupied by the Islamists. According to the aid organisations medico international and the Kurdish Red Crescent, more than 120,000 people have been displaced from the region around Aleppo and Tell Rifaat. Those who fled from the Kurdish canton of Afrîn had been living there in informal settlements and refugee camps since 2018. Now they have to flee again, and there are reports of torture and killings.
Since December, the people have been living in the self-adminstration area east of the Euphrates; the first contact points have been set up in the cities of Tabqa and Raqqa. However, the conditions are devastating, with a lack of everything: medicine, food, tents, clean water and electricity. Several children have already died of hypothermia. Hygiene conditions are also poor and diseases are spreading. Power grids and power stations have been partially destroyed by frequent drone strikes. Instead, noisy and air-polluting diesel generators are used to produce electricity.
Against this backdrop, supporting the people on the ground is a top priority. In addition to the immediate emergency supplies that are already being provided by aid organisations, we as the ‘Solardarity. New Energy for Rojava’ campaign is also sticking to our goal. With one million euros in donations, we want to make a contribution to a sustainable and resilient power supply in North and East Syria. This is because electricity is one of the basic needs and in turn enables the construction of further infrastructure, e.g. electrically powered drinking water wells.
It is time to send clear signals: Supplying the displaced people in Rojava and other parts of Syria is a top priority. Food, tents, medicine and electricity must be provided.
Let’s send new energy to Rojava together.
