(Zaman Al Wasl)- Representatives of the Syrian displaced offices in the border city of Afrin called to a protest against the Turkish decision to close their offices, saying Turkey seeks to force the displaced to settle in northern Syria and to bar them from the right to return.
According to a joint statement issued by the representatives of six offices, the decision aims to erase their Syrian identity, forcibly binding them to the areas where they reside. The report accused the Turkish government of the attempt to settle the displaced in Afrin, through what it described as "reinforcing the mentality of dispossessing the displacement of the displaced from the attachment to their regions and their right to return to them."
The statement stressed that all available means must be taken to stop this decision, calling at the same time to demonstrate continuously as a rejection of the decision and a pressure to restore the immediate work of the offices to serve the people of their regions.
According to sources, the local council of the city of Afrin conveyed, at a meeting held in the presence of a representative of the Turkish government, the need to close these offices in the city. Adding that, “During the meeting, a representative of the Turkish intelligence service verbally informed the committees from the rest of the governorates of Afrin, to close all civil affairs offices of the displaced.
A new decision from the Turkish government was issued to cancel the residence permit, allowing the displaced to obtain an identity card, to be replaced instead by Kurdish officials who will be appointed soon to refer to in case they need to obtain any other civil papers.”
The source explained that this decision would obliterate the identity of the displaced, because they come from multiple provinces, and when new IDs are issued to them from Afrin, the Afrin registration will be placed on them, thus canceling their previous registrations.
The offices of displaced persons, throughout the region of Afrin, carry out relief, work and take census of displaced persons from all governorates, and organize them in indexes showing their family data and places of residence, as customary legal measure to secure their needs through local councils.
The source explained that these offices also coordinate with the local council of Afrin and the "interim" government in order to assist the people of the displaced areas to obtain civil affairs issue papers, such as registration, residence permit, family civil status book, death / birth certificate, family register, the latter officially recognized in Turkey and a number of European countries.
It is worth mentioning that the entities calling for the demonstration are: Revolution Coordinators Union in Afrin, members of the Damascus Governorate Council, and the offices of the civil affairs in the countryside of Damascus, Homs and the coastal region.
Zaman Al Wasl
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.