Thousands of displaced Syrians have begun moving back to their homes in war-torn Idlib province despite the risk of renewed conflict, some driven by fear that the new coronavirus could wreak havoc on their cramped camps near the Turkish frontier.
Libby Hogan reports.
The choices are grim for Syrian refugees -- remain in tightly packed camps near the Turkish border, where the coronavirus could spread like wildfire, or return to the war zone they fled from in Idlib province.
With a mattress and belongings piled high into the back of a truck, Syrian man Zakaria Shawish is one of the displaced who chose to take the winding road back into Syria: SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED SYRIAN MAN, ZAKARIA SHAWISH, SAYING: "The living spaces in the camp are overcrowded .
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We grew worried of diseases, so we decided to come back to our town, thank God.
We pray that we are safe here." While the blossom is starting to flower in the countryside, the risk of renewed conflict looms. About one million Syrians fled Idlib and its surrounding countryside in northwest Syria over the past year after Russian-backed government forces stepped up a campaign to re-take the last rebel stronghold after nine years of war.
Fighting has calmed since March when Turkey, which backs some groups opposed to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, agreed to a ceasefire with Moscow.
Since then, relief agencies estimate over 100,000 have returned to Aleppo and Idlib countryside.
Syrian man Omar Mustafa is one of them.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED SYRIAN MAN, OMAR MUSTAFA, SAYING: "We returned to our towns.
We fled from the coronavirus.
Our towns don't really have it.
This is springtime, so in the village the air is fresh and clean, it's quieter than the town, there are no crowds, no smoke.
Yes this is a remote area, and yes it is dangerous, but there is nothing we can do about that." Syria's northwest does not yet have a confirmed case of coronavirus, but doctors fear the area's ravaged medical infrastructure would quickly turn any outbreak into a humanitarian disaster.