Syria closes two displacement camps, 100+ families return

Shafaq News- Damascus

Syrian authorities closed two displacement camps in Manbij, eastern Aleppo province, on Sunday as 108 families began returning to their hometowns in Aleppo and Idlib, according to the Syrian Civil Defense.

The closures involved the Al-Rasm Al-Qadeem and Al-Rasm Al-Jadeed camps, as part of government efforts to facilitate the return of displaced families.

In a statement carried by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the Civil Defense said the convoy was organized under the supervision of the national committee overseeing the “Syria Without Camps” initiative, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

Civil Defense teams escorted the convoy, secured the route and provided medical assistance to the families during their journey home.

Earlier on Sunday, a separate convoy of 220 families departed displacement camps in northern Idlib for their hometowns and villages in Idlib, Hama, Homs, Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Latakia, Damascus and Rural Damascus (Rif Dimashq).

Meanwhile, northeastern Syria has seen successive convoys returning displaced families from camps in Hasakah to Ras al-Ain and its surrounding countryside, alongside efforts to clear villages of landmines and explosive remnants of war.

Last Wednesday, around 600 families displaced from Ras al-Ain, also known as Serekaniye, returned from the Nowruz camp in Derik to their areas of origin in the sixth organized return convoy.

A fifth convoy, comprising 385 families, had departed on October 13 for areas around Ras al-Ain, Tal Tamr and Zarkan.

Thousands of families were displaced from Ras al-Ain and its surrounding areas following a Turkish military operation involving allied Syrian factions in October 2019. Many subsequently sought refuge in camps and shelters across northeastern Syria.