A/HRC/39/65 recaptured by government forces, including in eastern Ghouta (Rif Damascus), northern rural Homs and Yarmouk camp (Damascus). In other instances, including in Afrin (Aleppo), members of armed groups pillaged extensively from civilian homes, leaving civilians who fled clashes with little to return to (see para. 28 above). In other cases, those displaced found their homes occupied by fighters and their families, or appropriated by armed groups to be used for military purposes (see para. 30 above). Some incidents appear to have sectarian undertones. In other cases, including in Raqqah and Dayr al-Zawr governorates, barriers to return include the large-scale destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure and the presence of unexploded ordnance. 66. In the present report, the Commission highlights the battles that led to mass displacement, and the plight of those civilians deeply affected. In none of the instances documented did warring parties attempt to provide accommodation reflecting the most basic standards entitled to those displaced, nor was any displacement carried out in satisfactory conditions of safety, nutrition, health or hygiene; rather, many displaced civilians found themselves in areas controlled by armed groups in the northern part of the Syrian Arab Republic, left to subsist in overcrowded camps or abandoned buildings without basic services. In the south, thousands of civilians displaced during clashes in Dara’a (see paras. 84–85 below) are living in their vehicles or out in the open under the searing desert sun, surviving in unimaginable conditions on extremely limited and rationed international humanitarian aid. Within the framework of the “evacuation agreements”, the responsibility to provide civilians with food, water and adequate living conditions rests with the parties undertaking the displacement, including pro-government forces and armed groups, that negotiated, signed and implemented the agreements; they have, however, neglected that responsibility. Tens of thousands of other internally displaced persons continue to endure severely overcrowded and/or underserved sites in Rif Damascus, where many are being unlawfully interned by government forces. 22 67. The Commission has noted that local and international humanitarian organizations continue to play an auxiliary role in ameliorating the crisis facing internally displaced persons, even though their access to such persons is often deliberately denied by government forces, armed groups and terrorist organizations or curtailed by the ongoing hostilities. In areas where they are able to operate, their presence and the assistance they provide has helped to reduce the harm to which internally displaced persons are exposed, but has been insufficient to meet the mounting humanitarian and protection needs of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons who remain at risk countrywide. For these reasons, the Commission makes a set of pragmatic recommendations to all warring parties, to address the myriad issues affecting civilians displaced as a result of the conflict, including on ensuring their housing, land and property rights (see paras. 90-91 below). Aleppo governorate 68. A first wave of displacement was documented during the initial days of Operation Olive Branch, when Turkish forces and affiliated groups began bombarding areas outside of Afrin city. By 22 January, approximately 5,000 individuals had fled from areas including Admanli, Bulbul and Shankal. Families wanting to leave Afrin district were required, however, to obtain authorization from the Democratic Union Party (PYD) authorities, as exit points were closed by the YPG and Asayish, the Kurdish civilian police. According to some displaced civilians, prior to the end of the military operation, they were prevented from leaving Afrin district by Kurdish authorities until an attack was imminent (although urgent medical cases were allowed to leave on an exceptional basis). By mid-February, more than 15,000 civilians seeking safety were displaced within the district to Afrin city and neighbouring areas. 69. Civilians displaced within Afrin consistently described conditions of overcrowding and how dozens of individuals had sought refuge in buildings with only a few rooms, while some families stayed outdoors on construction sites, where they were exposed to harsh 22 See A/HRC/38/CRP.3, paras. 63–67. 13