Over 4,000 Kurds return to Afrin: Local source

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 4,000 Kurdish families have returned to Afrin in recent weeks, with some armed groups demanding payment for entry, the head of the local council for the Kurdish National Council (ENKS/KNC) said Thursday.

“The return of Kurdish families to their homeland continues,” Ahmed Hassan told Rudaw.

According to Hassan, armed groups controlling the area are demanding payments from Kurdish families attempting to return home.

“There are groups that charge thousands of dollars to allow a Kurdish family to return. Others charge $100. However, there are also areas where no charge is imposed,” he elaborated.

Afrin, previously under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in 2018, was controlled by Ankara and the Syrian militants it supports. International organizations have recorded numerous human rights violations in Afrin since.

Hundreds of thousands fled Afrin in the face of the offensive, mostly residing in the nearby Shahba region.

Rebel groups, spearheaded by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8, days after launching a blistering offensive. Syrian National Army (SNA) militants saw this as a chance to expand their territorial control of the area, attacking the SDF in Shahba region and taking control of it. This caused a new wave of displacement from the region to other areas under the control of the Kurdish forces.

Hassan also noted that settlers brought into Afrin during the years of conflict are increasingly leaving the region.

“We have received reports that 17 settler Arab families in one village have returned to their former place [of residence],” he said.

“In some cases, armed groups are preventing families from reclaiming their homes unless they pay money,” said the ENKS official.

The return process has also seen arrests. Hassan said young people returning to Afrin have been detained by armed groups on charges of links to the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in Rojava.

Soran Hussein contributed to this report.