Welcome to Siege Watch, an initiative of PAX. The Siege Watch project aims to provide the international community with up-to-date information on Syria’s besieged communities, where trapped civilians suffer in inhumane circumstances with little help from the outside world. Data is collected on an ongoing basis from an extensive network of reporting contacts on the ground and disseminated through in-depth quarterly reports, in the interactive map below, and on the Siege Watch Twitter feed (@siegewatch).

The February-April 2018 period saw the end of the last long-term government sieges in Syria. The Tenth Quarterly Siege Watch Report covering this tumultuous period will be divided into two parts. Part 1 describes the final offensive against Eastern Ghouta and will be published in June 2018. Part 2 – covering the Southern Damascus Suburbs, northern Homs, and other relevant areas – will be published by the beginning of September. The Tenth Quarterly Report will be the last quarterly report of the Siege Watch project

Use the interactive map below to zoom in and learn more about each besieged and “Watchlist” community. For further information on the map format, data, and classifications, check out the Map Guide. Finally, for background on the project and our data gathering methodology, please see the ‘About’ page.

Siege classification

Map Guide

Map Guide

Siege Types

The main types of Syrian communities of concern have been designated on the map:

1. Besieged – These are the areas that have been under long-term siege (6+ months), and are currently being monitored by the Siege Watch project, and they are further broken down into a Tier classification. These classifications are described in more detail in the next section.
2. Watchlist – These areas are at high risk of being under long-term siege and may be added to the Siege Watch monitoring project in the future. The communities in this category are either under Partial Siege – where many of the conditions of a siege are met but there remain a limited number of un-blockaded access points that may be usable at least part of the time – or have been besieged for 6 months or less.

Notes on Data

The information for each besieged community is presented on the map in a standardized category format. Most of the data was provided by our reporting sources on the ground, exceptions and clarifications for certain categories are as follows:

• Dates: Provided by direct reporting source in all cases where a source was available. In cases where source was unavailable, the dates were determined through additional research and extrapolation based on nearby areas. Sieges in Syria are implemented in stages, so dates may range based on individual interpretation.
• Siege classification: Siege classification is a measure of siege intensity and designations have been made by the Siege Watch project based on the available data, not directly by the reporting sources. The designations range from Tier 1 (highest intensity) to Tier 3 (lowest intensity) following the classification system proposed by SAMS in its March 2015 ‘Slow Death‘ report as follows:
  • Tier 1 – This is the highest level of siege, where very little is able to enter through smuggling or bribery and the UN is able to negotiate few if any aid deliveries and assistance that does enter is insufficient for the population. Residents in these areas are at a high risk of malnutrition/dehydration and denial of medical care. The area is frequently attacked by besieging forces causing medical emergencies.
  • Tier 2 – This is the moderate level of siege. Small amounts of supplies can usually be smuggled in through bribery and supplies can be purchased on the black market at extremely high prices. Vehicle deliveries cannot enter but residents may have access to alternative food sources such as local agriculture. The UN is able to negotiate few if any aid deliveries and assistance that does enter is insufficient for the population. The area is frequently attacked by besieging forces causing medical emergencies. Residents in these areas are at some risk of malnutrition/dehydration and high risk of denial of medical care.
  • Tier 3 – This is the lowest level of siege, where supplies still must be smuggled in but are done so with regularity and the population has consistent access to alternative food sources such as local agriculture. The UN is able to negotiate few if any aid deliveries and assistance that does enter is insufficient for the population. The area is frequently attacked by besieging forces causing medical emergencies. Residents in these areas are at low risk of malnutrition/dehydration and moderate risk of denial of medical care.
• Besieged by: Provided by direct reporting source in all cases where a source was available. In cases where source was unavailable, the dates were determined through additional research and extrapolation based on nearby areas.
• UN recognizes siege?: Based on the monthly Secretary-General’s reports on the humanitarian situation in Syria which are mandated by the Security Council. Reports available here.
• Current population: All population figures should be interpreted as estimates. Many come from Local Council figures based on the number of registered families, with a conservative estimated average of 4 people per family.
• Active Truce?: Provided by direct reporting source in all cases where a source was available. In cases where source was unavailable, the dates were determined through additional research.

Acronyms

AFAD – The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency Turkey
AOG – Armed opposition group
CoH – Cessation of Hostilities
FAR – Faylaq al-Rahman
HTF – Humanitarian Task Force
HTS – Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (second rebranding of Jabhat al-Nusra)
ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross
IDP – Internally displaced person
IHL – International Humanitarian Law
IHRL – International Human Rights Law
IRGC – Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
ISIS – Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (aka Daesh, ISIL, IS)
ISSG – International Syria Support Group
JAI – Jaysh al-Islam
MSF – Médecins Sans Frontières
NGO – Non-governmental organization
OHCHR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
SAMS – Syrian American Medical Society
SARC – Syrian Arab Red Crescent
SDF – Syrian Democratic Forces
SN4HR – Syrian Network for Human Rights
SYP – Syrian Pound
UN – United Nations
UN OCHA – United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
UNRWA – United Nations Relief and Works Agency
UNSC – United Nations Security Council
UNSG – United Nations Secretary-General
WFP – World Food Programme
WHO – World Health Organization

Data Sources

Information on each besieged community is gathered on a monthly basis from reporting contacts on the ground in Syria. In most cases, the reporters are affiliated with a Local Council, which already has processes in place to document the conditions of the siege such as deaths, changes in access, and price fluctuations. In some instances a Local Council partner could not be identified and an alternative local civil authority, such as a medical office or citizen journalists reporting network, has been used instead. In several of the more rural besieged areas, the remaining populations are so low and communications have become so difficult that no reporting partner was available. These cases are duly noted in the interactive map.