Serê Kaniyê IDPs: we will only return with dignity, safety

The suffering of thousands of displaced people living in camps continues, amidst difficult humanitarian conditions and increasing challenges. They remain steadfast in their desire to return to their city with dignity, rejecting any return that does not guarantee security, stability, and their basic rights.

In this context, Bashar Issa, displaced from the village of al-Safah, east of Serê Kaniyê, and currently residing in the Serê Kaniyê Camp, stated that they were forcibly displaced from their villages and city as a result of attacks and violations committed by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries, and that their departure was aimed at preserving their dignity.

He added that seven years have passed while they have been living in camps under dire humanitarian conditions, and that they will only return with dignity. He emphasized their rejection of any return that diminishes their rights, even if it means remaining in the camps.

He explained that their villages were destroyed, their homes demolished and looted, and that their demand is the expulsion of the armed groups and settlers, ensuring a safe return to their city, and working to rebuild it.

For his part, Khalil Moro, a displaced resident of al-Mahatta neighborhood in Serê Kaniyê, said that they endured a harsh displacement journey through the cities of al-Jazira region before arriving at the Serê Kaniyê Camp, which exacerbated their suffering over the past years.

He affirmed that this was done to preserve their dignity and the future of their children.

He added that the return they are demanding must be safe and dignified after the expulsion of the armed groups and settlers. He pointed out that their properties were destroyed, looted, and some were sold, but they remain steadfast in their right to return.

For her part, Sabiha Othman, from the Zardasht neighborhood and mother of the martyr Beritan, said that they were forced to leave their city to protect their lives from the violations, but the hope of returning never left them. She emphasized that their return must be safe and dignified.

She added that their demand is for peace and the restoration of their city to its former state of coexistence among its various communities: Kurds, Arabs, Circassians, Armenians, and Christians.

She pointed out that their homes were looted and seized by settlers, which necessitates the return of the original inhabitants to their areas.

ANHA