700 Syrian displaced families return to Ras al-Ain
Shafaq News- Damascus
Around 700 displaced families left camps in northeastern Syria on Tuesday for their home villages around Ras al-Ain (Serekaniye), in the second organized return convoy after nearly seven years of displacement, a member of the presidential team overseeing implementation of Damascus’ agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) told Shafaq News.
Mustafa Abdi said further convoys would follow in the coming days as part of a voluntary return process, with families heading back to villages and rural areas where mine-clearance work has been carried out.
Dozens of buses departed the Al-Talaea camp east of Al-Hasakah for the Ras al-Ain area near the Turkish border, a Shafaq News correspondent reported.
Abdi said Tuesday’s operation was coordinated with the Internal Security Forces in Al-Hasakah and supported by UN organizations and the Barzani Charity Foundation*.
Around 10,000 people displaced from Ras al-Ain and its countryside remain in camps and collective shelters, according to Shafaq News’ correspondent.
The return process resumed after an earlier attempt in August was suspended following attacks and property disputes involving returning Kurdish families. On Aug. 10, six families who returned to Ras al-Ain found other families living in their homes, triggering clashes and damage to vehicles. Local security authorities subsequently halted returns while suspects were pursued.
The returns form part of the agreement between Damascus and the SDF, which includes provisions for the integration of military and administrative structures into Syrian state institutions and the return of displaced residents to their areas of origin.
Residents of Ras al-Ain and nearby areas were displaced after Turkiye launched Operation Peace Spring (Barış Pınarı) in October 2019 with allied Syrian armed factions, taking control of a stretch of territory between Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad.
UN figures at the time estimated that nearly 180,000 people had fled northeastern Syria within the first two weeks of the offensive, while subsequent UN reporting put the total displacement at more than 200,000 before many later returned to their areas of origin.
*Founded in Erbil in 2005, the Barzani Charitable Foundation is a non-governmental, non-profit organization, with Prime Minister Masrour Barzani chairing the board of founders.
