Displaced Kurds in Qamishlo plead to return home amid ‘world’s silence’

ROJAVA – A large number of displaced residents from areas previously held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have arrived in the city of Qamishlo in Rojava, northeastern Syria, voicing concern over harsh living conditions and what they describe as a lack of international response to their situation.

Since early January, Syrian regime forces and allied militias have launched an offensive against the SDF in several areas, including Aleppo and other parts of the north and northeast, triggering new waves of displacement.

One elderly man, speaking to 964media, said that while their needs are many, their main request is to return to their homes. “We became displaced with only the clothes on our backs,” he said.

The man voiced concern about what he described as the world’s silence toward the suffering of the Kurdish people in Syria. “We are a peaceful people, but the world remains silent about the oppression against us. Our children, women, and the elderly are being killed,” he said.

He said he was displaced from Afrin in 2018. He later fled to Aleppo, then to Raqqa and Tabqa, and is now in Qamishlo.

Turkey invaded Kurdish city of Afrin in 2018. The offensive involved intensive aerial bombardment and a ground assault, causing large-scale civilian displacement.

His experience mirrors that of hundreds of thousands of Kurds displaced from Afrin, Serekaniye, Aleppo and other areas as a result of Turkish military offensives, Syrian regime assaults, and attacks by Islamist allied militias.

“Because we were only able to save our lives, we now need everything. We call on the international community to help us,” he said.

“As the Kurdish nation, we are demanding our rights. We want to live on our own land and govern ourselves, not be ruled by others,” he added.