Syrian civilians and opposition elements who were bussed out of northern rural Homs province under an agreement reached with the Syrian regime have found themselves stranded in the Qalaat al-Madiq area in Hama.

Over the past two months, more than 60,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from formerly besieged areas have arrived in Idlib province and northern Hama, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Most pull up in the northern Hama town and medieval citadel of Qalaat al-Madiq, known as "zero point", where new arrivals descend from buses, MSF said.

While new arrivals had initially been able to move on to other locations, however, the fourth, fifth and sixth batches bused out of northern rural Homs are still stranded in Qalaat al-Madiq, activist Faisal al-Ahmad said.

Once they reached this staging area, he told Diyaruna, this group of more than 5,000 displaced civilians and opposition elements was stopped from crossing into northern Syria.

They disembarked from the busses after long journeys and are now trapped in Qalaat al-Madiq, where they are facing extremely difficult conditions, he said.

Most are camped out in the rest area inside the citadel, al-Ahmad said.

Stranded at Qalaat al-Madiq

Under the ceasefire agreement reached between opposition groups and the Syrian regime, these people chose to leave Homs for northern Syria, and were given permission to do so.

But now opposition groups in the area have closed Qalaat al-Madiq crossing on the pretext that there are insufficient homes or camps to accommodate the new arrivals, al-Ahmad said.

The displaced population, many of whom are women and children, are stranded, he said, and have been forced to spend the night out in the open.

No humanitarian organisation or opposition group has provided them with shelter, even temporarily, which portends a major humanitarian crisis, he said.

Al-Ahmad noted that 13,000 IDPs had previously entered northern Syria with hardly any problem and were distributed among the camps, with many allowed to freely choose where to stay.

Pre-existing conflicts to blame

Although the opposition groups in northern Syria claimed there was nowhere to put the IDPs, al-Ahmad said, the real reason is pre-existing conflicts between the groups to which the incoming and existing opposition elements belong.

Most of the incoming IDPs are family members and relatives of those who arrived earlier, he said, and this behaviour appears to be collective punishment perpetrated upon the newly arrived IDPs.

According to those in contact with the stranded IDPs, he said, the factions in northern Syria are demanding detailed lists of the names of the new arrivals and are requiring that all of them hand over their personal weapons.

The new arrivals are being told they will be forced to stay at specific camps or informal settlements, he said, which they categorically reject.