The Co-Chair of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, Ilham Ehmed, welcomed the return of the first group of Kurdish families to the Afrin region. Around 400 families have returned to their homes after being displaced from the region following the Turkish invasion in 2018.
The return from Heseke took place under the escort of units of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish). Ehmed had overseen the departure of the convoy from Heseke the previous day, which reached the Afrin region on Tuesday morning. The returning families are receiving support from the Autonomous Administration, including humanitarian aid and access to basic services.
A moving moment
For the families, the return marks their first homecoming after years of displacement. Ehmed described this as a significant step. “The return of around 400 families to Afrin after years of repeated displacement is a moving moment,” she said. “The people of Afrin have remained deeply connected to their land despite all circumstances. For them, the land is not only a place to live, but also memory, life and deep roots.”
Dilara, a Kurdish woman from Jindires, is among the displaced people who were able to return to Afrin. Her cat also traveled with her in the convoy. © ANHA
Ehmed further stated that the return could be a first step on a longer path that would allow all displaced people to return to their homeland. At the same time, she emphasized the need for serious measures for reparations and for restoring stability in Afrin.
Return part of an agreement
The right of internally displaced Syrians to return to their home regions is a central part of the January 29 agreement between the Syrian transitional government in Damascus and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The Autonomous Administration calls on the European Union to support the implementation of this agreement, stating that international support is necessary to secure the return process and enable the reintegration of the displaced.
Departure from Heseke to Afrin © ANHA
Once the safest region of Syria
The Kurdish region of Afrin was occupied in March 2018 by Turkey and jihadist militias allied with Ankara. With the start of the attack two months earlier, which was widely described as a violation of international law, the area—previously considered the safest region in Syria—became the scene of systematic human rights violations and war crimes. In addition to a classic colonial policy, the Turkish occupying power also pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing. As a result, more than 400,000 people were displaced from their ancestral settlements. At the same time, the region was deliberately subjected to demographic change through the settlement of Islamist militias and their families.
Afrin practically completely looted
Kidnappings, torture, extortion, murder, looting and artillery attacks shaped the daily life of the remaining Kurdish population of Afrin—often under the de facto tolerance of the international community. Within the framework of an agreement between the SDF and the Syrian transitional government at the end of January this year, the return of the IDPs was decided. However, it is still unclear what conditions the returnees will find in the formerly occupied region. Arabs from various countries who had been settled in Afrin during the invasion looted the area before their departure and emptied numerous houses as well as public institutions.
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