Navigating Fragmentation: Improving Free Movement in Daraa, South Syria

English and Arabic versions | تحميل عربي

Authors: Juline Beaujouan, in collaboration with (in alphabetical order): Muhannad al-Rish; Abdallah El hafi; Eyas Ghreiz; Ayham Odat

Despite several so-called peace and reconciliation agreements signed between regime and opposition forces in Daraa from 2018 to 2021, evidence shows that human safety in the south has decreased, and free movement is a right that Syrians can only dream of. This policy brief discusses challenges that hinder the free movement of people and aid, at-risk groups, and strategies for improving free movement in the south. Recommendations are provided for the Syrian government, the international community, and donors.

Over a decade of violent conflict has left deep scars on the Syrian socio-political and geographical landscape. The country is fragmented into four governance and territorial entities, and communities are divided by conflict lines. Yet, global challenges – such as the Syrian refugee crisis, the threat posed by transnational radical groups, and most recently the Covid-19 pandemic – do not stop at borders. Identifiable “fragments” do not operate in complete isolation and are indeed interdependent.

The Navigating Fragmentation series of policy briefs has been developed from a research project that focused on the ever-evolving and interactive process of fragmentation in Syria and dynamics of “rebordering” (Vignal, 2017) during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Humanitarian aid, borders and conflict lines (policy brief)

Improving free movement in Northwest Syria (policy brief)