ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Displaced families continue to return to the countryside of the Kurdish city of Sare Kani (Ras al-Ayn) in northern Syria, only to find their homes reduced to rubble after seven years of displacement following a Turkish military offensive in 2019.
The fifth official convoy brought hundreds of families, including Kurdish households, back to villages devastated by the offensive earlier this week, as authorities announced plans to organize two convoys of returning internally displaced persons (IDPs) each week.
For many families, the return has been an emotional experience, with homes destroyed and personal belongings and memories lost after years of displacement.
"I just wanted to see a memory. I could not save any photos or any belongings at all. I just wanted to find something in this house but could not find anything but bricks," Niroz Musa, a returning displaced woman, told Rudaw’s Viviyan Fetah.
Mahmoud Khalil, spokesperson for the Sare Kani IDP Committee, said Kurdish families were among those returning in the latest convoy.
"Of the 385 families departing around 25 are Kurdish. According to the agreement reached between us, the presidential team and the province’s internal security forces, two convoys will depart on Friday, God willing," Khalil said.
The returns mark another step in efforts to facilitate the return of families displaced from Sare Kani and its surrounding countryside during Turkey's 2019 military offensive against Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria (Rojava).
The offensive forced tens of thousands of residents, mostly Kurds, to flee their homes. Many have remained displaced in other parts of Syria, unable to return to their villages for years.
Despite the latest returns, widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure remains a major challenge for families attempting to rebuild their lives.
The returns are part of an agreement between the new government in Damascus and Rojava authorities.
