381 families prepare to leave Serê Kaniyê Camp

A total of 381 families residing in the Serê Kaniyê (Al-Tala’i) Displacement Camp are preparing to return to their hometowns and villages of origin. The families are packing their belongings and furniture ahead of their departure tomorrow morning, Tuesday.

The families will return to the countryside of Serê Kaniyê (Ras al-Ain), Tal Tamr, and Zerkan.

Return offers an end to years of suffering

In this context, ANHA agency documented the preparations of Umkin Ferhan, a displaced woman from the village of Merikis in the countryside of Serê Kaniyê, as she prepared to return to her village. She had begun dismantling her tent and gathering her belongings in preparation for departure tomorrow morning.

Umkin Ferhan said: “We are happy to return after the painful years we have spent in these camps. However, our joy remains incomplete because our family members and relatives are still living in the camps. All we want is for them to return as well, as soon as possible,”

she added: “Our relatives and neighbours come to see us and look at us, while life in the camps has become unbearable amid the difficult conditions we are living in,”

She pointed out that their homes had been destroyed and looted, stressing that they would return to rebuild them as winter approaches, despite the fact that the financial compensation provided to them is insufficient to cover reconstruction costs.

“We know that the financial compensation we receive is not enough, but we have to return. We have lived through years of tragedy here, and that is why we see returning home as a way out of this suffering,” she continued.

Umkin Ferhan also stressed that the homes in the village had been destroyed. She said they wanted a solution that would ensure residents could return, particularly those from the city, as remaining in the camp would only deepen their misery and suffering.

Calls for displaced city residents to return, as rural residents have done

Aziza Saleh, another displaced woman who lives next door to Umkin Ferhan in the camp, expressed her happiness at the return of her neighbours and other displaced families to their homes and villages. However, she stressed that their joy remains incomplete as long as many displaced people are still unable to return to their places of origin.

She added that suffering in the camps continues to worsen amid the lack of basic necessities, as well as the deprivation of children of access to education. She stressed the need to end this suffering by ensuring that displaced families can return to their homes.

She noted that most of her neighbours had returned to their areas, leaving her alone in the section of the camp where she lives. She called for the return of displaced residents of the city to their homes to be expedited.

The demands of displaced people underscore the importance of finding solutions that ensure the safe and dignified return of all displaced families, while providing the necessary support for home reconstruction and access to basic necessities. Such measures would enable them to put years of displacement behind them and restore stability in their areas of origin.

ANHA