ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The committee for displaced people from the town of Sari Kani in Rojava (northeast Syria) on Tuesday announced that it had temporarily suspended further return convoys until guarantees are provided for the safe return of displaced families, following attacks on returnees. 

Earlier on Monday, preparations were made for the return of more than 400 families to Sari Kani (Ras al-Ayn) from an IDP camp in Hasaka after some seven years of displacement.

Shortly after the convoy arrived in Sari Kani, footage circulating online showed the returnees being attacked by armed men. The developments were followed by several gatherings in the city, with Kurds expressing frustration over the incident.

Demonstrations were also held in the symbolic Kurdish city of Kobane, where angry Kurdish protesters took down the Syrian flag from the Internal Security Forces building and removed a government banner from the district director’s building.

In a statement, the committee said that it had adopted a “temporary suspension” of the other returnee convoys.

Returns will remain halted “until minimum security, legal, and practical conditions and guarantees are provided to protect returning civilians and ensure their safety and the protection of their property,” the committee said. 

The decision “does not constitute a retreat from the right of return or a suspension of the return process,” but is rather a “necessary and responsible measure” aimed at ensuring the safety of returnees.

Earlier on Tuesday, Syrian security forces said that 19 members were injured in Kobane following demonstrations over the incident, state media reported.

The committee further expressed deep concerns “in light of the absence of adequate and effective security measures to protect the returnees.”

The majority of the returned IDP’s “are now living in a state of fear and under direct threat,” it said, while describing the incident as a “highly dangerous development” and noting that their return “is a legitimate right that is not subject to negotiation or relinquishment.”

The committee demanded urgent measures to protect returning civilians, an independent investigation into the attacks, steps to end the settlement imposed on Sari Kani, and a clear mechanism to organize future return convoys. 

Earlier on Tuesday, Rojava’s internal security forces launched an investigation into threats against the returnees to Sari Kani, with several people allegedly involved in the incidents arrested and legal action expected to be taken against them, reported Hawar news agency, affiliated with the Kurdish-led Rojava administration.

In January, Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached an agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian security apparatus on the heels of a Syrian military invasion of Rojava that brought about an end to autonomous rule.

A key point in the landmark agreement was the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), including Kurdish civilians who were displaced in Turkish operations across Afrin, Sari Kani, and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) between 2018 and 2019.

In March, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa agreed to form an official committee tasked with ensuring the return of IDPs from Afrin and Sari Kani to their areas of origin.

Syria has fallen into sectarian conflict on several occasions since Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, leading Ahmed al-Sharaa to seize the presidency, with the new authorities in Damascus having been repeatedly criticized for failing to protect minorities.