Displaced Kurdish and Arab Families Return to Ras al-Ayn After Seven Years

Around 450 Kurdish and Arab families have left the al-Talayi camp in the Syrian city of Hassakeh to return to the countryside of Ras al-Ayn, seven years after they were displaced by a Turkish military offensive and Turkish-backed Syrian factions in October 2019.

Families arrived in the town of Al-Arisha with their belongings piled onto trucks, finding damaged and destroyed homes and limited basic services.

The return follows arrangements between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Damaged infrastructure and unresolved property issues, however, remain major obstacles for many families.

The development comes amid a broader political transition in northeastern Syria, where the SDF has been integrating into the Syrian state and previously autonomous Kurdish-led institutions have been brought under central government control.

(Source: Associated Press)