IDPs from Serê Kaniyê demand safe; dignified return

For years, tens of thousands of families forcibly displaced by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries from the occupied regions of Afrin, Serê Kaniyê, and Girê Spî/Tal Abyad have been living in harsh conditions in camps and shelters torn between the bitterness of loss and the hope of returning home.

The forcibly displaced from the occupied city of Serê Kaniyê continue to hold firmly to their legitimate right to a safe and dignified return to their homes and lands, while the occupation continues its policies aimed at imposing a new demographic reality that threatens the identity, social fabric, and national heritage of those areas.

In this context, Ibrahim Imam Allo, a displaced person from occupied Serê Kaniyê who currently resides in the village of Tal Nasri in the Tel Tamr countryside, said:

“We are not asking for the impossible. We only want to return peacefully to our land, but the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries prevent us and have seized our properties.”

He added: “For us, a safe return requires first and foremost ending the Turkish occupation of those areas, expelling the mercenaries, halting the systematic displacement policies, and providing international guarantees that ensure the safety and legal rights of the returnees.”

He emphasized that the Syrian Interim Government is covering up these practices and plays a role in concealing Turkish violations by forming local councils subordinate to Turkey and granting mercenaries full control over the administrative and security affairs of the occupied city of Serê Kaniyê.

For her part, displaced woman Sanaa Abboud, who lives in one of the shelters in Tel Tamr, said: “We want to return to our homes, but not to prisons or under the mercy of armed groups. A genuine return must be safe, under international supervision, and with full guarantees of our rights.”

She added: “I want to go back, but there is now a settler family living in my house. How can I return while they occupy my home? Who will guarantee the safety of me and my children under the presence of the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries? There can be no return while the occupation continues.”

Meanwhile, Aziz al-Din Hussein, a displaced person from the village of al-Dawoudiyah in the Serê Kaniyê countryside, stated that

“The Turkish occupation prevents residents from returning to their homes through the deployment of mercenaries, the confiscation of property, and the imposition of a new identity on the occupied areas,”
noting that the Syrian Interim Government in Damascus turns a blind eye to these violations.

He concluded by saying: “A safe return cannot be achieved as long as the Turkish occupation and its mercenary groups remain in place. What is required is international supervision over the return process and guarantees that the returnees will not be harmed or have their property confiscated.”

ANHA