Why do not displaced people return to Afrin?

After the attacks launched by the Turkish occupation state and its mercenaries during 2018-2019, in addition to the attacks carried out by the Turkish state and groups affiliated with the Syrian Interim Government this year, 450,000 people were forced to flee their homes in the cities of Afrin, Serê Kaniyê, Girê Spî, Shahba, Sheikh Maqsoud, and Ashrafiyeh in Aleppo, seeking refuge in Kobani and Jazira cities, as they are now living in shelters, camps, schools, and mosques under difficult conditions, hoping for a safe return to their homes.

On January 29th, the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian Interim Government reached an agreement, one of its key provisions was a guarantee of the safe return of the displaced to their homes. According to the agreement, integration steps have begun, but the return has not yet been realized.

On February 16th, the Afrin Social Association and the Afrin and Shahba Displaced Persons Council, in cooperation with the Civil Society Representative Office in Europe, issued a statement regarding the voluntary return of displaced persons. As a first step, approximately 400 to 500 families will return to Janders, Mobata, and Shia districts in Afrin.

Accordingly, the relevant organizations began preparations for the return, held meetings with the United Nations, and submitted a report on the logistical aspects of a safe return; however, the United Nations has not yet responded.

The Afrin and Shahba Displaced Persons Council compiled a list of families wishing to return, but no concrete steps have been taken so far, and the families are still awaiting further accurate information.

Private sources cited several reasons for the delay in the return; First, the January 6th attacks on North and East Syria and Rojava led to the escape of a number of ISIS families and mercenaries who had been held in detention centers and camps in North and East Syria, in addition to the mercenaries' re-organization of themselves openly in the Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa regions, threatening the security of the residents and their return.

Second, the families of mercenaries affiliated with the Turkish occupation are refusing to leave Afrin and the homes of the original inhabitants. According to information obtained by ANHA agency from Afrin residents, a number of families from Sheikh Maqsoud headed towards Afrin, but they were unable to return to their homes because the mercenary factions had seized their properties. Driven by greed for the region's olive groves, the mercenaries' families are refusing to leave Janders.

Afrin residents who are in contact with their relatives there indicated that they lived in constant fear and anxiety. If the mercenaries discovered that any family possessed money, they would loot it. Even during the harvest season, they imposed exorbitant taxes on the families.

So far, no information has been provided regarding the return of displaced people from the areas of Serê Kaniyê, Girê Spî, Sheikh Maqsoud, and Shahba.

ANHA