Northern Syria – Ahmed al-Amer managed to reach northwestern Syria a few days ago, after a days-long journey after fleeing the city of Hama for fear of forced conscription into the ranks of the Syrian regime forces.

To escape arrest, Ahmed came to the family of his brother, who has lived in the northern city of Idlib for years, where thousands of families fleeing the city of Hama live in areas controlled by the Syrian opposition in the northwest of the country.

"After I was 19 years old, I received warrants from the military police, after which I decided to contact an intermediary to smuggle me to the northern regions for $2500,<>," Ahmed al-Amer said.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Amer added that "the mediator and to avoid any inspection on the road is paying a sum of money to the elements of the checkpoints of the regime deployed along the road until reaching the city of Manbij, which is under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and there we crossed towards the crossing separating with the Syrian opposition forces, and then we went to the city of Al-Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo and then to the town where my brother lives in the city of Idlib."

Recently, dozens of young men arrived from areas controlled by the Syrian regime towards opposition-controlled areas, where their number was estimated at 70 young men, according to cross-opposition sources.

The youths follow smuggling routes through the checkpoints of the regime's army in exchange for sums of money ranging from $1500,4 to $<>,<>.

The youths reach SDF-controlled areas from the cities of Damascus, Hama, Daraa and Suwayda, and then through crossings to the cities of Aleppo and Idlib.

Dozens of young men from regime-controlled areas make their way towards opposition-held areas on perilous journeys (Al Jazeera)

Escaping from the regime's army

"Mohammed D.", a resident of the Deir Baalba neighborhood in Homs, a graduate of Al-Baath University in the city, said that his failure to perform compulsory service in the ranks of the regime forces constitutes an impregnable barrier to obtaining a job in his field of specialization, and this prompted him to seriously consider looking for a way out of Syria towards Lebanon or the liberated areas, in cooperation with smugglers contracted with the checkpoints of the regime forces.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, the young Syrian pointed out that "going out towards opposition-controlled areas and from there to Turkey and then one of the countries of the world costs about $ 1500,3, in addition to what ranges between two thousand to $ <>,<> to cross from opposition-controlled areas to Turkey."

This comes "amid a pledge by smugglers that I will not be harassed on the road leading from Homs to Idlib by checkpoints that are co-ordinated beforehand", he said.

Going out towards opposition-held areas in northern Syria is through smuggling routes (Al Jazeera)

Destroying the future

Abdullah, 22, said he is trying hard to secure $1500,<> to reach his brother's residence in Idlib city to escape raids and arrest campaigns involving young men of legal age for military service.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, he added that the mere thought of joining the ranks of the Syrian regime forces means destroying the future, because young people will have to spend about 9 years between the two mandatory service scheduled for one and a half years, and the period of retention service scheduled for 6 years.

He said he would finish service at the age of more than 30 if he survived on one of the frontlines.

The northern Syrian city of Idlib is the main front for Syrian youth fleeing forced conscription (Al Jazeera)

Towards Europe

These young people join their displaced families in northern Syria, and most of them head to Turkish territory with the aim of obtaining a job opportunity or reaching the European Union countries.

Social researcher Khaled Al-Khalil explained that a large segment of civil society, especially the youth, are striving tirelessly to get out of the areas controlled by the regime inside Syria, in search of a better reality for both living and professional life, after the great deterioration witnessed by the areas under its control, like the rest of the governorates.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Al-Khalil adds that families are seeking to find an income that helps them bear the burdens of living because of the exorbitant prices, and the only way is to send them to Europe, so the areas controlled by the Syrian opposition are the best way because they are the closest to Turkey, through which thousands of young people arrived to European countries.

Samer Abu Ammar arrived a month ago in the Sarmada border area with Turkey in northern Idlib province, and is a deserter from military service from Damascus countryside, after he decided to stay previously following the settlement with the Syrian regime forces and Russia in 2018.

Despite that settlement, Abu Ammar says – for Al Jazeera Net – that the regime forces took his brother for military service and returned to them a lifeless body a week later because of the battles with the Islamic State in the desert of Homs.

Abu Ammar confirmed that his mother sold her gold jewelry in order to smuggle it to northern Syria to preserve it from upholstery, because he would be killed by the regime's army if ISIS did not kill him, he said.