AANES pays visit to refugees in Raqqa deported from Lebanon
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, a delegation from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) visited Syrian refugees – who were recently deported from Lebanon – in al-Hakomiya camp in north Raqqa, north Syria.
In late April, the Lebanese authorities deported 50 Syrian refugees. In 2022, Lebanon announced a plan to return 15,000 Syrian refugees to Syria. They deported the first batch in the Autumn of that same year and included over 100 families through three border crossings with Syria in Homs and Damascus.
Farouq al-Mashi, the co-chair of the AANES Social Affairs and Labor Board, stated that they are ready to receive all Syrian refugees coming from Lebanon.
Al-Mashi added that the AANES had already received dozens of refugees deported from Lebanon and that it would allocate a new camp to accommodate more.
On Wednesday, Co-chair of the AANES IDPs and Refugees Affairs Office, Sheikhmous Ahmad, said that seven families of Syrian refugees in Lebanon reached AANES-held areas and settled in al-Hakomiya makeshift camp in north Raqqa.
He stated that necessary support would be provided to them in line with available capabilities. In case their numbers increase, the AANES will have to establish a specific camp for refugees returning from Lebanon.
Al-Mashi said, in a statement he delivered on behalf of the board, that the AANES welcomes all Syrian refugees coming from Sudan, Lebanon, or Turkey.
On Monday, the AANES repatriated 161 Syrians trapped in Sudan. On April 27, the AANES formed a committee to return Syrians who hail from the AANES-held areas and have been trapped in Sudan.
Abdul-Nasser Ali, a spokesperson for the AANES Social Affairs and Labor Committee of the Raqqa Civil Council, said that they, along with the board’s delegation, welcomed the refugees coming from Lebanon.
He informed North Press that they prepared a place to harbor Syrians returning from the abovementioned countries.
There are 12 Syrian families from Lebanon in al-Hakomiya makeshift camp. Other families are “temporarily” residing in Raqqa city, according to Ali.
Ali said that the committee has not coordinated with international NGOs. He called on relief organizations to assist the returned refugees, as they are “in need of shelter and humanitarian aid.”