Syrian Kurds: 2,500 head back to Ras al-Ain

About 2,500 displaced Syrian Kurds were heading back to the northeastern border town of Ras al-Ain on Monday, in what a committee representative described as the first batch of returns after years away.

Jawan Isso, from a committee representing displaced people from Ras al-Ain, said the movement followed coordination between Damascus and Kurdish authorities. He said a second batch would be transferred in the coming days.

An AFP journalist near Hasakeh saw trucks loaded with furniture and belongings waiting to depart, with men, women and children preparing to travel.

The return comes months after a January agreement to merge Kurdish forces and civil institutions into the Syrian state. The agreement included the return of displaced Kurds, but Ras al-Ain residents had still been waiting.

Tens of thousands of Kurds were displaced in 2019 when Turkey and allied Syrian fighters seized an Arab-majority strip along the Turkish border, including Ras al-Ain, from Kurdish control during Syria's civil war.

The committee said Monday's transfer was the start of a path toward a full return and called for protection of property, housing and land rights, as well as basic services and infrastructure for returnees.

The United Nations says about 5.5 million people remain internally displaced in Syria after more than 13 years of civil war.