A settler residing in a house belonging to an indigenous Kurdish citizen in the city of Afrin set the property on fire before departing with his family members. The individual had seized the property since 2018; the incident coincided with the return of a new batch of the city’s displaced persons to their areas of origin.
According to local sources, the incident occurred on Friday, May 8, 2026, in a house located on the “Mazot Highway” within the center of Afrin. The settler was observed fleeing the scene with his family following the outbreak of the fire, without notifying civil defense teams.
Sources reported that the settler hails from the Al-Hasakah countryside and had been occupying the house since Turkish-backed Syrian factions took control of the region in 2018. The Syrian Civil Defense teams managed to extinguish the blaze after receiving a report from residents living in the vicinity of the residential building.
The incident coincided with the return of the fourth batch of displaced persons from Afrin, comprising approximately one thousand families who returned to their original areas after years of displacement, as part of the ongoing return operations initiated since the beginning of 2026.
According to local sources, hundreds of homes in Afrin remain occupied by displaced persons and settlers, some of whom refuse to vacate and restore them to their original owners, despite escalating popular calls to end the seizure of private property.
This incident brings back to the forefront the file of violations related to property and housing rights in Afrin, including the seizure of Kurdish civilian homes and the infliction of material damage, amid the absence of effective mechanisms for accountability and the restitution of rights.
Since Turkish forces and their affiliated Syrian factions took control of the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin on March 18, 2018, the area has witnessed a wide series of violations against the Kurdish population. These include murder, kidnapping, torture, the imposition of royalties, and the seizure of property, alongside the displacement of hundreds of thousands of indigenous inhabitants.
Following the takeover, large numbers of displaced persons from other Syrian regions were settled in homes belonging to displaced Afrin residents, triggering repeated accusations of demographic change in the region.
Following the agreement announced between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Provisional Authority led by Ahmed al-Sharaa on January 29, 2026, convoys of Kurdish displaced persons began returning to Afrin. However, local reports continue to document the ongoing presence of settlers within indigenous homes, as well as acts of sabotage and theft occurring in several properties prior to their evacuation.
