Shafaq News- Damascus

A total of 375 displaced Syrian families returned to villages in northern Al-Hasakah on Thursday in the eighth convoy organized for residents displaced from Ras Al-Ain (Serekaniye), a local official told Shafaq News.

Mahmoud Jamil, spokesperson for the Ras Al-Ain Displaced Persons Committee, said the families left Washokani camp and schools used as temporary shelters for villages around Ras Al-Ain, Zarkan, and Tal Tamr, following coordination with internal security forces, a presidential delegation, and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). He urged UN agencies and relevant authorities to include more families in future convoys and speed up safe, voluntary returns.

Since August, seven previous convoys have brought 4,125 families back to the surrounding countryside. Returns to Ras Al-Ain town remain suspended after Kurdish families attempting to return were attacked in August, restricting subsequent convoys to nearby villages.

Ras Al-Ain and Tal Al-Abyad came under the control of Turkiye and allied Syrian opposition factions during the 2019 Operation Peace Spring offensive, which displaced more than 200,000 civilians, according to UN estimates.