Syria Behind borders, under siege and out of reach The sixth year of Syria’s civil war brought no respite for civilians, who continued to bear the brunt of extreme levels of violence committed by all parties to the conflict with unprecedented humanitarian consequences. People fled their homes across the country, many of them displaced more than once to areas of steadily diminishing safety. The hostilities were relentless throughout 2016 and included gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights law as all parties repeatedly targeted densely populated areas and civilian infrastructure. Two cessation of hostilities agreements brokered by the US and Russia in February and August led to temporary lulls in the fighting and a drop in the rate of internal displacement, but hostilities SPOT LIGHT and their impact on the civilian population flared again after each agreement. Intense fighting in and around eastern Aleppo in December caused the temporary displacement of at least 100,000 people from and within the city. Offensives against ISIL took place on various fronts. Turkish forces crossed into Syria to launch an operation with allied local forces in August, and the opposition Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) went on the attack in Raqqa governorate in November. Both campaigns caused waves of displacements across northern Syria. Between 35,000 and 40,000 people were displaced in the north of Raqqa, most for short periods of time.32 Displaced residents from eastern Aleppo rest at Mahalej centre. Photo: © UNHCR/ Mohamed Jertila, December 2016 ON THE GRID: Global internal displacement in 2016 17