Displaced Sweida residents demand safe and dignified return to villages

Amid declining humanitarian aid and the continued absence of solutions, around 70,000 displaced people from villages in rural Suwayda are living under harsh conditions in shelters, while fears are increasing about individual return to villages that have suffered destruction and violations.

“Current conditions are more bitter than displacement and return”

Citizen Munira Mohammed Zahr al-Din, one of the displaced from the village of Wulgha, said her family has been living in difficult conditions for about nine months since their displacement. She noted that most of the aid they used to receive came from city residents and expatriates, but humanitarian assistance has completely stopped over the past four months.

She added that the destruction in the village, along with landmines and threats against those wishing to return, prevents people from going back to their homes, stressing that she will not return individually because she only feels safe if she returns with other villagers.

“Preferring hunger over unsafe return”

Citizen Shaqi Fawzi Azzam, displaced from the village of Al-Douri on the administrative border with Daraa, said he was forced to leave his village under shelling and attacks after residents’ property was looted, describing the current situation as “dire.”

Azzam pointed out that labeling people in Suwayda as “infidels” by attacking parties is a key reason for refusing to return, saying such rhetoric justifies violations and massacres committed against Druze and “minorities.” He added that many residents prefer hunger over returning individually to villages controlled by the interim government.

Destroyed homes and infrastructure

Citizen Atif Abu Hamra, a person with disabilities from the village of Kaif, said he and his seven family members fled their village in July 2025 after spending days hiding in basements to escape attacks.

He later returned alone to check his home but found widespread destruction affecting houses and infrastructure, including electricity and water networks that had been sabotaged and looted.

Community initiatives for support

Meanwhile, young man Qais Shtayyan said he participated in a community initiative to provide symbolic aid to displaced children and families in light of current conditions, stressing that the main demand of all displaced people is a dignified and safe return to their villages.

ANHA