Syria’s AANES stresses need of safe return for Syrian refugees, IDPs
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – An official in Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES, also known as Rojava) stressed on Tuesday the importance of returning Syrian refugees and IDPs to their areas safely.
The AANES runs 16 camps in its areas, where the camps shelter approximately 150.000 individuals, in addition to squatter camps in the countryside of Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Tabqa and Manbij, according to statistics by the Office of the Humanitarian Affairs in the AANES.
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defeated ISIS militarily.
Sheikhmous Ahmad, co-chair of the IDPs and Refugees Affairs Office in the AANES, said that guaranteeing the safe return for Syrians who fled war is a humanitarian duty that influential figures must carry out.
Innocents’ lives were and still directly in danger in hot spots in Syria, which are still witnessing clashes between armed opposition factions and government forces, he told North Press.
Thousands of residents fled their areas in Syria’s north and headed towards AANES-held areas after the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition factions, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA) took control over their areas, according to Sheikhmous.
Despite limited capabilities, the AANES offered safe shelters for hundreds of thousands of Syrians who escaped the war that has been ongoing for a decade, he added.
The humanitarian refugee crisis is exacerbating due to the closure of border crossings such as al-Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher), prohibiting some areas from obtaining humanitarian aid, and increasing burdens to the AANES and IDPs there.
In July 2020, the al-Ya’rubiyah (Tel Kocher) border crossing, which is the only point of the areas of the AANES, was closed to UN humanitarian access due to the Russian-Chinese veto, which exacerbated the challenges facing the region, according to civil organizations.
Despite calls by organizations and member states of the UN for re-authorization, the repeated Russian-Chinese veto led to rejection or amendment of the proposal, sometimes even before voting.
The closure of the crossing deprived residents of Syria’s northeast of aid estimated at $26.8 million, due to the cessation of support for many organizations operating in the region.
In accordance with human rights standards recognized by the UN, the AANES deals with IDPs and refugees without discrimination, and no cases of refugee rights violations have been recorded, he said.
On June 19, in a public statement on the occasion of World Refugee Day, the AANES called on the UN to assume its responsibilities towards thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees scattered over dozens of camps in its areas.