Al-Shahba IDPs' crisis deepens in Qamishlo amid evacuation, right to return

Currently, 1,350 families displaced from al-Shahba during 2013, 2018, and 2024 are residing in the areas of Qamishlo, Kobani, and Hasakah.

These families are distributed as follows: 700 in Qamishlo, 300 in Hasakah, and another 350 between Kobani, Amuda, and Derik.

Among 700 families hi residing in Qamishlo, 210 are currently living in 17 schools. The city’s Education Directorate and Qamishlo People’s Council are seeking to evacuate the schools to enable students to attend the new academic year.

According to information obtained from the Qamishlo People’s Council and the city’s Education Directorate, repeated notices were sent to the al-Shahba Civil Council over the past month, calling for alternative accommodation to be found for the displaced people and the schools to be vacated.

The two sources said some schools had remained closed for a period because they were being used to accommodate the displaced people. Meanwhile, students’ families are now calling for the schools to be vacated so their children can return to their classrooms at the start of the new academic year.

For its part, the al-Shahba Civil Council said it is unable to provide alternative accommodation for the displaced people, stressing that their primary demand is to return to al-Shahba rather than be relocated elsewhere.

According to information obtained from the council, the Turkish state has deployed most of the armed factions affiliated with it, including the al-Amshat, al-Hamzat, and Sultan Morad factions, in the al-Shahba region.

The council said these  gunmen act arbitrarily, detaining young people and targeting local residents. This has eroded residents’ trust in them and made a return to their homes impossible under the current circumstances.

The displaced people are calling for the Kurdish Front Forces to take responsibility for their security and safety, considering this a prerequisite for enabling them to return to their areas.

On Monday, at 10 a.m., the Qamishlo People’s Council gave the displaced people an additional 24-hour deadline to vacate the schools, while the al-Shahba Civil Council confirms that it is unable to remove them in the absence of a suitable alternative.

So far, no solution to the crisis has been reached. The Qamishlo People’s Council, al-Shahba Civil Council, the displaced people, and the Qamishlo Education Directorate are awaiting a way forward that balances students’ need for access to schools with the need to provide the displaced people with safe and suitable accommodation, or to create the conditions necessary for their return to al-Shahba.

ANHA