Şêxmûs Ehmed, Co-Chair of the Refugee Affairs Office of the Democratic Autonomous Administration for North and East Syria (DAANES), spoke to ANF about the decisions for the deportation of Syrian refugees from Lebanon, Turkey and other regional states. He also evaluated the Autonomous Administration's announcement that its doors are open to these refugees, the settlement of the refugees so far and their general situation.

Pointing out that racist attacks against Syrian refugees have increased especially in recent years due to Turkey's policies, Şêxmûs Ehmed said the following:

“For some time, even for years, there have been many racist attacks against Syrian refugees who have migrated to the countries in the region, especially Turkey and Lebanon. For this reason, the Autonomous Administration, as a moral duty, issued a declaration addressed to organisations defending international human rights and migrant rights for its citizens. The declaration in April 2023 was partly addressed to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, who are subjected to threats, deportation, racism and imprisonment.

This declaration was issued by the Autonomous Administration on the basis that the refugees would be covered by the Autonomous Administration if international support was provided. Since then, however, there has been no positive response to this declaration. Due to the recent clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, there were many refugees in southern Lebanon. Some of these refugees lost their lives and some families were forced to flee. Our representative offices in Lebanon have been working for the transfer of these refugees to the Autonomous Administration areas. The Autonomous Administration has already set up a crisis desk for this situation and made a public statement.

What was the reason for these racist attacks against Syrian refugees, especially in Turkey and Lebanon? The Turkish state is pursuing a dirty policy against Syrian refugees, both inside Turkey and in Lebanon and Iraq. The Turkish state only wants to control United Nations (UN) aid and the opening of trade gates for refugees. It wants to open these gates only between itself and Syria and to ensure that humanitarian aid passes through Turkey. For years, the Turkish state has already received billions of dollars in aid from the European Union for Syrian refugees. It has also used hundreds of Syrian youths as soldiers. These young people were used in the invasion attacks against Libya, Azerbaijan, Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) and Rojava (Northern Syria). Iraq has also decided to deport Syrian refugees. When we look at these actions as a whole, they are inhumane approaches; they are against human rights law and trampling on the rights of migrants. The United Nations, its affiliated institutions and other international human rights organisations should take a clear stance against this. However, to date, none of these institutions and states have clarified their attitudes and decisions towards migrants.”

‘Turkey’s aim is to create a demographic change in the areas it occupied’

Drawing attention to the efforts of the Turkish state to change the demographic structure in the region, Ehmed continued as follows:

“The Autonomous Administration is constantly following the developments regarding the situation of migrants. In particular, it closely monitors the refugees in Turkey and Lebanon. Because the Turkish state has forcibly sent many Syrian refugees to regions where they do not have a place of their own. The aim of the Turkish state here is to create a demographic change in the areas it occupied in Northern and Eastern Syria. Especially in Efrîn, Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî regions, the Turkish state forcibly removed the local people and settled people who migrated from Syria's Damascus, Hema and Homs. This in itself is a violation of human rights law. According to human rights laws, every refugee must be provided with the conditions for returning to their own land in safety and with their rights protected. In response, the Autonomous Administration prepared a dossier, both diplomatically and legally, and submitted it to organisations such as the United Nations and Amnesty International. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is also aware of this situation. The dossier was forwarded to all relevant organisations defending human rights and migrants' rights and shared with the public.

There is a committee formed for the passage of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to Northern and Eastern Syria. In all the work, discussions and dialogues of this committee, it was stated that the doors of the Autonomous Administration are open to all Syrian refugees who want to cross to Northern and Eastern Syria. All relevant institutions are working to provide the necessary conditions and facilities for the passage of these refugees. So far, a certain number of refugees have crossed into our areas. But it seems that this number will increase in the future. Will the Autonomous Administration be able to meet them? Or does it have the means? This also depends on the support of human rights institutions and United Nations organisations because the Autonomous Administration has limited means at its disposal. Moreover, the Turkish state has not stopped its attacks on the regions of northern and eastern Syria. The Turkish state has hit infrastructure, water reservoirs, electricity stations and the living quarters of the people, and Turkish planes have even attacked the refugee camps in the Autonomous Administration areas. Therefore, international organisations must also provide support to the Autonomous Administration. Only in this way can the Autonomous Administration create the means to accommodate a large number of refugees. If such support is not provided, the Autonomous Administration can only welcome and support the people of Northern and Eastern Syria. For this reason, our expectation is that this kind of aid should be provided and especially that the Til Kocher gate should be opened so that the aid can pass directly to our region, because most of the aid coming through Damascus is confiscated and only a very small part of it can reach this region.”

Şêxmus Ehmed pointed out that: “All the refugees in Lebanon are Syrians. Many people who fled the war and especially the invasion of the Turkish state were working there to make a living. Most of these refugees were living in Lebanon with arrest warrants issued by the security forces of the Damascus government. Most of those who have now crossed into northern and eastern Syria are from these areas. There are also refugees from other parts of Syria other than North-East Syria. There are also refugees from areas occupied by the Turkish state and its gangs.

As I said, if all Syrian citizens want to cross into our territory, our doors are open to them. But this requires help from international states and organisations. In Lebanon, there is a committee previously established by the Autonomous Administration. This committee has been working for a long time to solve the problems of Syrian refugees. The Rabitat Newroz Committee in particular is working in Beirut under the Autonomous Administration. This committee meets the needs of refugees who cannot pay their own house rent. The committee works together with humanitarian organisations in Lebanon, institutions affiliated to the Lebanese state and other humanitarian aid organisations to ensure that the refugees leaving Lebanon are transferred to the autonomous administration areas. The crisis desk committee established in Rojava and the committee in Lebanon are in daily dialogue.

The government in Damascus is supposed to help refugees from Lebanon to cross - it is a humanitarian duty. Unfortunately, at the beginning, the Damascus government imposed the condition of paying a hundred dollars for each refugee who crossed. This was very difficult for the refugees who were trying to cross only with the clothes they were wearing. For the last week, it has stated that it has stopped this practice. However, it is not clear how long this situation will last or whether it has actually been stopped. The Damascus government should open the gates for refugees to pass through. In fact, it should meet all the needs of the refugees who want to cross to our region and at least create the conditions for crossing, but on the contrary, there are many refugees who have crossed to the Syrian side or are stuck at the border.

We do not have the means for these refugees to cross into our territory. For this reason, the Autonomous Administration has made all the preparations in its area. We will transport the refugees who do not have the means to the areas they want. If they have houses or land, they will go there anyway. However, we have prepared camps for those who do not have these opportunities. We have prepared three camps for refugees who have nowhere to go. One of them is Ednaniyê Camp, located in Raqqa. Since the lands of the people of Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî were occupied, they will be placed in Newroz Camp. Erişa Camp is also open to refugees. In this way, we can support our people and facilitate their passage to the region.

Therefore, the government in Damascus must also fulfil its duty, because it is also its people. So far, 3,300 refugees have crossed into our areas, mostly women and children. There are also elderly people among them. There are also 11 Lebanese nationals. Seven bodies were also transferred to our area. Most of the refugees pass through Tabqa Gate and some of them pass through Manbij Canton. Our gates are kept open day and night for the refugees to pass through.”