1,600 families to return to Serêkaniyê on Monday

A new convoy of displaced residents of Serêkaniyê/Ras al-Ain will depart next Monday for the city’s countryside, bringing the total number of families returning through the three convoys to more than 1,600. Meanwhile, no displaced residents from the city center have returned so far, particularly Kurds.

Several factors are preventing the return of those displaced from the city center, most notably the continued presence of people who have taken over their homes and families from outside the city living in them. There are calls to end these conditions and create the necessary circumstances for the displaced to return to their homes, including members of all communities in Serêkaniyê, particularly Kurds.

Promises to Empty the City Remain Unfulfilled

Speaking to ANHA agency, Mohammed Hajo, a member of the Serêkaniyê Displaced Persons Committee, said: “Following numerous meetings with delegations from the transitional government, there were promises that once the first and second convoys returned to the city’s countryside, the city would be cleared of outsiders and those who had taken over the homes of displaced Kurds. But today we are talking about the third convoy, which will also return to the city’s countryside, while the city has still not been cleared.”

He added: “During the meetings, we also asked why they had not fulfilled their promises to remove families from Ghweiran and Deir ez-Zor, as well as Iraqi families from the city. The response was that they needed some time. Therefore, even with the departure of the third convoy, there will be no Kurds returning as part of it.”

Displaced Persons Committee Links Fourth Convoy to Return of City-Center Residents

Hajo pointed out that “the Serêkaniyê Displaced Persons Committee will take a clear position during the fourth convoy. Whatever happens, our condition will be that all communities of Serêkaniyê, both Kurds and Arabs, return to the city center. This requires serious work by the transitional government in the city of Serêkaniyê.”

He stressed: “So far, the transitional government does not have full control over the city of Serêkaniyê. Even those who have taken over Kurdish homes are not responding to the demands of the government and its institutions, as the factional situation in the city continues.”

He noted that “displaced people will continue to feel fearful as long as the factional situation persists and those factions continue to receive their orders from regional actors. Therefore, the transitional government must seriously address this issue, remove outsiders from the city and return the displaced before winter.”

Difficult Humanitarian Conditions in Camps and Shelters

Hajo spoke about the conditions faced by the displaced, saying: “The suffering has worsened in the camps and shelters, in addition to their loss of access to schools and basic necessities of life. Winter will be very harsh for the displaced, so work must be done to return them directly.”

Return of Kurds to the City a Priority

Hajo concluded: “For us, the return of those displaced from the city is a red line. Work must be done to return them to the city center and clear the Kurdish neighborhoods. Therefore, those responsible for this issue must return the Kurds to their homes, together with the other communities, to their villages and areas.”

The second convoy of displaced residents of Serêkaniyê living in the Serêkaniyê Camp in Hasakah, which included around 700 families, or nearly 7,000 people, returned on September 8 to around 55 villages in the city’s countryside, Razgan and Tel Tamr.

The first convoy returned on August 10, carrying around 410 families to the southern countryside of Serêkaniyê, as part of efforts to return displaced people to their areas and villages.

A-H 

ANHA