Since December 15 an agreement brokered between Russia, Iran and rebel fighters to evacuate besieged communities in eastern Aleppo and the villages of Foua and Kefraya has been under way, albeit faltering at times owing to infringements of the deal.
While the humanitarian crisis of Aleppo is rightly under the international spotlight, the wisdom of the evacuation deal has largely gone unquestioned. This is unfortunate because in many ways the uprooting of Aleppo's residents to Idlib is a case of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.
The full article originally appears in Al Jazeera English.