12 displaced families in NE Syria leave Hawl Camp for original areas
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – A new group of displaced Syrian families left on Sunday Hawl Camp in the countryside of Hasakah, northeastern Syria, heading back to their original areas as part of an ongoing return initiative coordinated between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Sheikhmous Ahmad, co-chair of the AANES’ Refugees and Displaced Persons Office, told North Press that this was the third group of families to depart the camp under the current program.
“The families who departed are humanitarian cases,” Ahmad said, explaining that the group included 12 families, totaling 55 people, mostly women and children from several governorates, including Aleppo, Idlib, Homs, Deir ez-Zor, Damascus, and Daraa.
Ahmad noted that “the number of families leaving remains limited compared to the large population still inside the camp,” which continues to host tens of thousands of displaced Syrians and foreign nationals.
Earlier this year, the AANES reaffirmed its commitment to providing all necessary facilities and logistical support for displaced persons wishing to return to their areas of origin, in cooperation with the UNHCR.
Ahmad stated that “the Syrian transitional government has not yet offered any assistance or facilitation for the return of displaced persons, despite multiple meetings and negotiations.”
He added that the AANES “continues its coordination with UNHCR to release more humanitarian cases from Hawl Camp.”
Ahmad also urged international organizations and the Syrian transitional government to support the efforts of the AANES “to empty the camps and ensure the safe and dignified return of all displaced people, particularly those from Afrin, Shahba region, Tel Rifaat, Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), and Tel Abyad.”