IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Activists and journalists in Idlib governorate, northwest Syria, believe that moving huge numbers of Syrian refugees into an area hundreds of miles from their homes would involve a drastic demographic shift.
Ahmad Hessinat, a political activist from Idlib, said that the Turkish plan to return Syrian refugees is questionable, as there is no voluntary return of Syrians in light of the ongoing war.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a project on May 3 to settle one million Syrian refugees in the areas controlled by Turkey and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) in northern Syria.
The number of settlements that Turkey has built in Idlib alone are about 50, most of them are near the Mashhad Ruhin region, north of Idlib, according to North Press correspondent in the area.
While the number of settlements that were built in the regions of Afrin, Azaz and Jarablus, north and east of Aleppo governorate, is about 45, most of which were built during 2021 and the first half of 2022.
Undesirable project
“It is unacceptable to deport Syrians who sought refuge in Turkey after losing their towns, villages and livelihoods,” Hessinat said.
“For Turkey, which hosts more than 3 million Syrians refugees, returning some Syrians across the border has become an urgent priority as it prepares for upcoming electoral campaign” he noted.
The activist accused the Turkish opposition of stirring up strife and problems between the Syrians and the Turks, by using the Syrian refugee issue as a pressure card to achieve its electoral goals.
Hessinat believes that the aim of building the settlements inside Syria is to perform a demographic change, as those people will not be returned to their own towns and cities.
“The Turkish project is not welcome at all, as these refugees did not leave their towns except to restore a free, civil and democratic Syria, not to change the demographic structure,” he added.
According to the political activist, these settlements in northern Syria are unsafe, because the areas in which the settlements are built are frequently bombed by Russia.
There is no voluntary return
Muhammad Youssef, a journalist from Idlib governorate, said that the Turkish president’s recent statements regarding the return of Syrian refugees are serious, but not to their own villages and towns, as he had previously prompted, but rather to settlements that lack the most basic necessities of life.
“There is no voluntary return, but rather forced deportation,” the journalist said.
“If the Syrian refugees wanted to return voluntarily to these settlements, which are similar to prisons, they would not have left when they were being bombed,” Youssef noted.
The journalist was not surprised by these decisions, because the Turkish policy regarding the Syrian issue is clear, since it had handed over the city of Aleppo to the government forces and Russia.
He further explained that Erdogan has returned 85% of the opposition held areas to the “Syrian regime,” which was against the will of the people of those areas.
He pointed out that the Turkish claims of returning Syrians to settlements built in what it called a “safe zone” are unrealistic, as this area lacks the most basic necessities of life.
“What kind of return is awaiting these refugees,” he wondered.
Hadiya Mansour, a freelancer journalist living in Idlib, said that any talk about the return of Syrian refugees should include the safe return to the areas from which they were displaced, and anything else is considered “public treason”.
“The people living in Idlib suffer from hardship and the difficulty of life in these areas,” she added.
“The Turkish settlements in northern Syria are not suitable for livestock, so how will the deported families live in them,” the journalist wondered.