HIGHLIGHTS
SARG regains complete control of Damascus following military campaign against ISIS-held areas of Al Hajar al-Aswad and Yarmouk
Nearly 12,900 IDPs return to areas of origin in Eastern Ghouta despite destruction and lack of services
WFP delivers food assistance to more than 2.8 million people across Syria in May
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
On May 21, the Syrian Arab Republic Government (SARG) regained control of southern Damascus’ Al Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood and the adjoining unofficial Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp—the last two areas of Damascus held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)—bringing Damascus under complete SARG control for the first time since 2011. The UN reports that SARG military operations resulted in at least 60 civilian deaths and widespread destruction of Yarmouk’s infrastructure.
On June 5, State/PRM partner UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reached Rif Damascus Governorate’s Yalda town for the first time since May 2016. The UN agency delivered life-saving assistance to approximately 2,500 people, including Palestinian refugees and Syrians displaced from Yarmouk camp.
Between May 7 and 17, an estimated 35,600 people evacuated northern rural Homs Governorate as part of a local agreement between armed opposition groups (AOGs) and the SARG and the Government of the Russian Federation (GoRF). On May 30, the first interagency humanitarian convoy since the SARG regained control of the region reached northern Homs’s Talbiseh town and surrounding villages and southern Hamah Governorate’s Tlul Elhomor town, delivering assistance to 105,000 people.
Since late 2017, approximately 175,000 people have returned to Dayr az Zawr Governorate and approximately 132,000 people have returned to Ar Raqqah city, despite continued explosive hazard risks. In response, USAID/FFP partner the UN World Food Program (WFP) has increased assistance for returnees; in April, WFP reached populations in Ar Raqqah city for the first time since 2014, delivering food rations for 30,000 people