Human Rights Statement | Rights Monitor Syria Welcomes the Conclusion of the Afrin Displaced Persons Council’s Operations and Calls for Ensuring a Safe, Dignified, and Sustainable Return for All Returnees
Rights Monitor Syria welcomes the announcement issued by the Afrin Displaced Persons Council on July 19, 2026, marking the conclusion of its operations, the termination of its official activities, and the closure of its office, following its announcement of the completion of the return of displaced Kurdish persons from Afrin to their cities, towns, and villages, and considering that the mission for which it was established—namely following up on the conditions of the displaced and accompanying their return—has been accomplished.
This announcement represents an important milestone in the path of return for thousands of civilians who were forcibly displaced from their homes in recent years. It reflects a positive development in ending a long period of displacement imposed on a wide segment of the population of the Afrin region, along with the accompanying human, social, and economic suffering that spanned several years.
Rights Monitor Syria affirms that the return of displaced persons to their areas of origin constitutes an inherent right guaranteed by the rules of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law. It stresses that the success of return operations is not measured merely by the physical arrival of returnees at their areas, but by the availability of a safe and stable environment that ensures their full enjoyment of their rights—chief among them the right to personal security, housing, property, freedom of movement, and non-subjection to any form of discrimination or reprisal.
Since Turkish forces and affiliated Syrian factions took control of the region on March 18, 2018, the Afrin area witnessed a broad wave of displacement and forced displacement of the Kurdish population. This was accompanied by documented violations, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, extrajudicial killing, property seizure, and extortion, as well as violations affecting the economic, social, and cultural rights of the indigenous population, alongside repeated allegations of demographic change in the region. This led to the displacement of tens of thousands of civilians, a large portion of whom settled for years in regions of Northeastern Syria, before return operations gradually commenced during 2026.
While Rights Monitor Syria welcomes the end of the displacement file in principle, it expresses concern over the continued arrival of human rights reports indicating ongoing violations against some returning or residing Kurdish civilians in the region. These include allegations of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, restrictions on freedom of movement, violations related to housing and property rights, and ongoing difficulties in property restitution, in addition to the absence of effective accountability for many past violations. These indicators demonstrate that ending displacement does not necessarily mean the end of human rights risks facing the returning population, which necessitates continued monitoring, documentation, and the provision of full legal protection for them.
Rights Monitor Syria emphasizes that achieving a sustainable return requires practical steps to ensure respect for the rule of law, the restitution of property to its legitimate owners or redress in accordance with international standards, the termination of all forms of unlawful seizure of homes and lands, ensuring returnees are not subjected to any acts of reprisal or discrimination, and conducting independent and impartial investigations into all reported violations to hold those responsible accountable, thereby fostering trust and creating the necessary conditions to achieve justice and redress.
Rights Monitor Syria calls upon the Syrian authorities and all influential entities in the Afrin region to fulfill their obligations under international law, ensure the protection of civilians without discrimination, secure a voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return for all displaced persons, and safeguard their fundamental rights to guarantee the non-recurrence of the violations that forced them to leave their homes over eight years ago.
