Second Convoy of Afrin Displaced Leaves Qamishli
A second group of displaced people from the Afrin region in northern Aleppo left the city of al-Qamishli (Hasakah, northeastern Syria) on Saturday, April 4, heading toward their original areas.
The convoy was supervised by the presidential team tasked with following up on the implementation of the January agreement signed between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in a new step within the process of returning displaced people to their areas.
The displaced families gathered from the early morning hours on the western side of al-Qamishli before the convoy moved toward Afrin, amid logistical and security arrangements accompanying the departure.
According to the Afrin and al-Shahba Displaced Council, the current group includes about 200 families, transported in 80 private vehicles and 48 vehicles loaded with belongings, in addition to 14 buses allocated to transport civilians.
The council said the returning families are mainly from the Rajo district and the city of Afrin. Syrian Civil Defense teams accompanied the convoy as part of measures aimed at ensuring an organized return and reducing risks during the journey.
Mahmoud Khalil, deputy commander of the Internal Security Forces in Hasakah province, announced the convoy’s departure on X, noting that the route would run along the M4 highway, one of the main vital roads in northeastern Syria that links several provinces.
According to the available information, the operation is being carried out through joint coordination among the relevant bodies, including Hasakah governorate and internal security leadership in Hasakah and Aleppo, alongside the participation of Civil Defense teams. The aim is to ensure the families reach their destination in Afrin safely and in an orderly way.
Continuation of Return Groups
This group came about three weeks after the departure of the first group, which included around 400 families and returned on March 9 to different parts of Afrin, including Sheikh Hadid, Jindires, and Mabata, under similar security and relief arrangements that accompanied the convoy until it arrived.
The return of displaced people from Afrin is one of the main files being addressed under the January agreement, with thousands of families displaced over recent years to different areas of northeastern Syria, especially in Hasakah and Raqqa provinces.
In this context, Mustafa Abdi, a member of the presidential team assigned to follow up on implementation of the agreement, said, “The current group includes 200 families from displaced Afrin residents living in Qamishli, and it is part of a broader plan to return displaced Afrin residents in Hasakah province.”
He added that “the general plan aims to return every displaced person to his home, while providing protection, assistance, and the necessary facilitation by the state,” referring to continued coordination among the relevant bodies to speed up return operations.
January Agreement and the Return of the Displaced
These movements fall within the implementation of the agreement signed in January between the Syrian government and the SDF. The agreement includes provisions to facilitate the return of displaced people to their original areas, as well as administrative and security coordination across several areas in northeastern Syria.
According to the relevant authorities, operations to transport returning families are expected to continue in the coming days through successive groups, to complete the return of the largest possible number of displaced people as efforts continue to speed up implementation of the agreement on the ground.
Despite these steps, several challenges remain regarding the return file, including service conditions and infrastructure in Afrin, as well as securing basic living requirements for returnees. That places additional responsibilities on the supervising bodies to ensure the stability of families after their arrival.
These convoys are seen as an indicator of relative progress in implementing the agreement, at a time when thousands of displaced families are awaiting their turn to return to their areas through an organized mechanism that takes into account security, service, and humanitarian considerations.
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