Bab Al-Hawa announces 13.000 people crossed into Syria
IDLIB, Syria ( North Press) – The administration of the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, between Turkey and Syria in Idlib Governorate, announced that more than 13.000 people had crossed from earthquake-hit Turkey into Syria in the past few days.
The number of Syrians holding the Temporary Protection Card (Kimlik), who entered Syria in the past 24 hours after Turkey eased border-crossing procedures was 335, according to updates by the crossing’s administration on Facebook.
Recently, Turkey has eased border-crossing regulations for Syrian Temporary Protection Identities (Kimlik) holders from any of the earthquake-stricken provinces.
The new law, passed in the wake of the Feb. 6 earthquake, allows Syrians holding “Kimlik” from one of the ten quake-hit Turkish provinces to return to their country for three to six months. Until recently, the government had followed a populist policy of expelling Syrian refugees and barring their re-entry into Turkey. 50.000 Syrians were returned from Turkey in 2022 alone. Accusations that Turkish authorities are forcefully expelling them abound.
The total number of people crossing into Syria throughout the past 12 days has reached 13.020.
Sources in the administration confirmed that the number of newcomers has declined in the past few days as they fear that Turkey will not allow them to return.
At dawn on Feb. 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Syria and Turkey, killing nearly 50.000 individuals and injuring much more. The earthquake also caused immense destruction of buildings, trapping thousands under the rubble.