The final convoy of displaced Kurdish families from Afrin departed today from Qamishli and Hasakah, marking the completion of the repatriation process for residents who were forced to flee their homes following the 2018 military operation in Afrin.

Final Convoy Departs for Afrin

On Thursday, the ninth official convoy of displaced Afrin residents left the cities of Qamishli and Hasakah to return to their hometown.

According to the Afrin Social Association, the convoy included approximately 500 families and represented the last group of displaced Afrin residents remaining in Qamishli, Hasakah, and Kobane.

Its departure concludes the broader repatriation initiative, which had already facilitated the return of thousands of families through eight previous convoys.

The repatriation is being carried out under a political agreement signed on January 29, 2025, between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Interim Government.

One of the agreement's main provisions was to facilitate the safe and voluntary return of citizens displaced by military operations since 2018, allowing them to resettle in their hometowns.

Resettlement and Demographic Changes

Some of the returning families have been resettled in villages within the Sherawa district.

Their return comes amid significant demographic changes in Afrin. According to available data, around 1,500 families originally from Deir ez-Zor, Damascus, and Homs, who relocated to the area during the Syrian civil war, are currently living in the city of Afrin.

The return of the final convoy comes more than eight years after Turkish forces and allied armed factions took control of Afrin on March 18, 2018.

The military operation displaced hundreds of thousands of Kurdish residents to other parts of Rojava and Syria. After more than eight years of displacement and living in camps and host communities, the final group of displaced families has now returned home.