HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – Like hundreds of other displaced people in Hawl Camp, east of Syria’s Hasakah, Munifa Muhammad is packing her belongings to return to her home in Deir ez-Zor countryside after more than two years of displacement.
Muhammad, a mother of five, is one of the 515 displaced people who will leave the camp and return to their areas, according to the efforts of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to empty the camp of Syrian IDPs.
The last batch to leave the camp consisted of 35 families, including 117 people, who returned to Raqqa and its countryside.
Muhammad expressed her longing for her village of Baghouz, which became famous during the battles against the last stronghold of ISIS by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in March 2018.
However, like many of other people of her region, her return faces many obstacles, the most difficult of which may be the destruction of her house by war.
“We are going back to our homes, although they are just ruins, no houses or anything else; I need help,” Muhammad said.
She added that she will live with some of her relatives permanently; she does not know what she will do later. “I miss my family and relatives; I want go back to my home. I don’t have anything, no house to live in or land to plant,” she added.
The Autonomous Administration previously evacuated 29 batches of displaced Syrians, amounting to about 6,000 people, through tribal guarantees.
The new method is voluntary evacuation for those who want to leave, after receiving all necessary documentation to the camp’s Office of Refugee and Displaced Affairs, without any guarantees.
Hawl Camp houses more than 60,000 people, including thousands of women and children of ISIS militants, and the number of the Syrians is almost 23,000, according to Sheikhmous Ahmed, Director of the Office of Refugee and Displaced Affairs in the Autonomous Administration.
With the evacuation of this most recent group, the number of displaced Syrians remains about 23,000 out of the 60,000 people, according to Ahmed.
Fatma Gawhar, an IDP from the city of Abu Kamal, is waiting for the moment to leave with her grandchildren.
“We have been here for four years. We want to go back to our homes and land; we were comfortable at the camp, but we want to go back to our land and our relatives,” Gawhar added.
The woman does not know if they will be able to rebuild their house, especially with the start of winter.
“Our homes are destroyed and burnt, but it is better for us to go back to our lands and family; we need help to rebuild our houses, as well as food aid,” she said.
Ahmed Ali, displaced from Qoriya village in the countryside of Mayadin, said that his house was destroyed due to shelling.
“I will build a mud room and live with my family in it,” he added, with tears of joy.