ABU-AL-DUHUR /Syria/, July 30. /TASS/. Residents of Idlib, a Syrian province currently under control of militants, are leaving the area via a humanitarian corridor built by Russians in the Abu al-Duhur settlement. The specialists of the Center for the Reception, Allocation and Accommodation of Refugees help people recover their documents, and Russian field medics perform check-ups of the population.

"We have established cooperation with the governor of the province; we’ve created a commission that deals with the issues of the refugees’ return and identity check. There are a lot of people returning, whose identification and property documents were lost in the fires during the fighting," head of the Aleppo Province Department of the Center for the Reception, Allocation and Accommodation of Refugees Oleg Demyanenko said.

He added that they look up all refugees in Syrian databases to see whether they have any problems with the law. Before the refugees are admitted to the humanitarian corridor, they have to be checked for weapons and explosives.

"There have been cases when we found metal objects hidden in sacks. They tried to transport knives and even firearms," a member of the Syrian government forces conducting searches of the refugees informed. However, such cases are rare, and the majority of people transport personal belongings, pets and cattle, he added.

Free at last

People leaving the areas controlled by the militants have been awaiting this moment for a long time. "Our home is just a few kilometers away from here. We ended up on the militant-controlled territory by accident, we came to visit relatives, and then they occupied the region. We have been in captivity for several years," Syrian resident Aisha Ahmed said, leaving the territory through the corridor.

She added that two of her sons are still on the captured territory, as the militants only release women, children and older persons.

Situation in Idlib

The Idlib province was seized by militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group (outlawed in Russia) in 2015. According to reconciliation agreements, members of militant units reluctant to surrender to the Syrian government forces in the Aleppo and Homs provinces, as well as in Eastern Ghouta, were allowed to move to Idlib. Militants from the southern Syrian provinces of Daraa and Quneitra are also now moving to the region.

In 2017, the Idlib province was included in the northern de-escalation zone controlled by Turkey, which is one of the ceasefire guarantors together with Russia and Iran.

A new international meeting on Syria, involving participants in the Astana process, is scheduled to take place in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on July 30-31.