of them displaced from defeated rebel areas). Fighting in Idlib has led to further displacements, of up to 250,000 people, and generating new refugee outflows to neighbouring Turkey. Displacement has led to demographic shifts. One example is the area in the North under control by Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Many human rights groups, including Amnesty International and international organizations have accused SDF forces of committing ethnic cleansing in Arab areas they were capturing from other war factions. The accusation was repeated on 8 May 2019 by Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. NGOs and the opposition have also accused the government of using the conflict to affect demographic restructuring. Birth-death rate In April 2016, the UN estimated that 400,000 people had died in the war, and casualties have continued since, with estimates for the total dead by mid-2019 of up to 220,000 civilians, 175,000 government combatants, and 174,000 anti-government combatants (see Casualties of the Syrian Civil War). Population Since 1960, censuses have been conducted in 1960, 1970, 1981, 1994 and 2004. In 2014, 17,951,639, a massive decline due to nearly 4 million Syrian refugees leaving the country because of the Syrian Civil War and furthermore because of the death in the war. This is a drop of 9.7% from the previous year. In 2017, the head of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, Mohammad Akram al-Qash, said that the Syrian population was 28 million, of which, 21 million were living in Syria and that 7 million were refugees. In 2018, 19,454,263 estimated. Age structure Median age This data is from CIA World Factbook: total: 24.5 yearsmale: 24 yearsfemale: 25 years (2018 est.) Population decline rate This data is from CIA World Factbook: 0.797% (2012 est.) Birth rate This data is from CIA World Factbook: 20.7 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Death rate This data is from CIA World Factbook: 4 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Net migration rate This data is from CIA World Factbook: 57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Sex ratio This data is from CIA World Factbook: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female0–14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15–24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 25–54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 55–64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/femaletotal population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2017 est.) Demographic statistics UN estimates: Life expectancy at birth This data is from CIA World Factbook: total: 75.2 years male: 72.8 years female: 77.8 years (2018 est.) Population centers 60% of the