ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 1,500 families displaced from the Kurdish city of Afrin in northwest Syria are set to return to their homes on Thursday from camps and host communities in northeastern Hasaka province as part of an ongoing process supported by Kurdish authorities and Damascus, according to a local official.
Ahmed al-Hilali, deputy governor of Hasaka, said preparations are underway for the fifth convoy of displaced families to leave from Derik (al-Malikiyah) and Qamishli cities.
“We are making preparations for another convoy of displaced people from Afrin to return to their villages and towns from the Derik and Qamishli areas in Hasaka province. This convoy includes more than 1,500 families,” Hilali told Rudaw.
He added that “the convoy will set off early in the morning.”
The latest development follows the return of five previous convoys under the implementation of the late January agreement between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus, which included provisions for the return of displaced civilians to their home areas after weeks of fighting in northern and eastern Syria.
The new convoy comes just days after the first batch of Afrin IDPs - consisting of more than 600 families - returned to their homes from Kobane. So far, four previous convoys from Hasaka and Qamishli have already brought more than 2,400 families back to Afrin.
Families from Afrin have endured multiple waves of displacement in recent years. Many first fled in 2018 during the Turkish-backed offensive on the Kurdish-majority city. Others were displaced again in 2024 following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and once more earlier this year amid renewed clashes between Syria’s interim authorities and the SDF.
In mid-January, the Syrian Arab Army and allied armed groups launched a major offensive into areas controlled by the SDF, prompting Kurdish-led forces to withdraw from parts of eastern Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Hasaka.
Despite the recent returns, many families continue to face obstacles, particularly because some homes in Afrin are still occupied by Arab settlers who moved into properties left behind by displaced Kurdish residents.
Noushin Hami contributed to this article.
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