Serekaniye Displaced Committee calls for accountability and safe return

On August 10, the first convoy of displaced people from Serekaniye set out from Tuwayna town in the Hasakah countryside toward the city. The convoy included 409 Arab and Kurdish families. However, upon reaching the city, the convoy was subjected to attacks, intimidation and deliberate targeting.

Speaking to ANHA agency about the incident, Serekaniye Displaced Persons Committee spokesperson and lawyer Civan Iso said: “Seven years have passed, and the people of Serekaniye have been living under harsh conditions, whether in camps or outside them. Following the 2019 attack, around 85 percent of the original population was displaced. Kurds were among the most affected, as they were completely displaced, while a policy of displacement and demographic change was carried out in Serekaniye.”

He added: “Following a series of meetings held by the Serekaniye Displaced Persons Committee with the relevant authorities, and after Damascus announced that 2026 should be free of camps in Syria and that every displaced person should return to their city or village, many promises were made and an agreement was reached. However, the return of displaced people, both to Afrin and Serekaniye, has been significantly delayed.”

Iso noted that the Syrian transitional government had not made the return of displaced people a priority following the changes in the country, despite the fact that protecting people, both from humanitarian and legal perspectives, is fundamental to stability in Syria.

“We, as the Displaced Persons Committee, were ready and began working on several stages, most importantly registering and documenting the names of displaced people and preparing for their return in organized convoys,” he said.

He continued: “The day of return to Serekaniye was a historic day for us because it represented the recovery of a right forcibly taken from our people. But when the convoy set out, we were subjected to a brutal attack. What happened was a continuation of the violations that Serekaniye has witnessed for seven years.”

Civan Iso confirmed that the residents who returned as part of the first convoy were forced to leave Serekaniye again and head back to Hasakah following the attacks against them.

“People saved themselves in different ways and fled the city, and most of them were unable even to take their cars with them,” he said.

According to testimonies documented by the committee, Iso said: “We visited displaced families who had returned from Serekaniye to Hasakah. They were in a state of shock, while many of them had sustained injuries, particularly children, many of whom were psychologically affected.”

He added: “Hours after arriving, people went to the doors of their homes, only to be told by those in control: ‘You have no homes or property here. All of you, leave this place.’”

Iso said their current plans involve temporarily sheltering the displaced people in preparation for the second convoy, noting that work on this is ongoing.

He stressed that their goal is to continue the return process and prevent it from being obstructed or halted halfway.

Civan Iso called for a dignified and sustainable return for the displaced, stressing: “This is not simply a matter of changing locations. People must return voluntarily, they must be provided with security without any obstacles, and they must live freely in Serekaniye.”

At the end of his remarks, he called for those who attacked the displaced people returning to their city to be held accountable, for security to be maintained, and for the road to Serekaniye and its countryside to be opened.

“We, as the committee, will continue our work and ensure that the people reach the city,” he said.

a.k

ANHA