ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Syrian displacement camp that has relied on UN support for years is on the verge of closing after most of its residents returned home, with only 20 families remaining. Ibrahim Khalaf, director of the social affairs and labor office in Hasaka, told state-run SANA on Saturday that about 75 percent of the camp's residents have left since the beginning of the year. The al-Arisha camp, located south of Hasaka, was home to thousands of displaced families, most of them from Deir ez-Zor province. Before Damascus took control of the facility in January, Kurdish authorities had launched initiatives encouraging residents to return to their areas of origin. The Syrian government has since continued efforts to facilitate voluntary returns. Khalaf said a committee that includes representatives from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, was recently formed to help address obstacles facing displaced families seeking to leave the camp voluntarily. According to the official, 93 families departed the camp over the past two weeks, leaving only 20 families still residing there. The camp housed around 2,000 families, or roughly 10,000 people, as recently as July 2025 and had received UN assistance for years. Established in 2017 in Hasaka province, al-Arisha camp was created to shelter people displaced by conflict and instability, primarily from Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces. At its peak, it hosted nearly 18,000 displaced people, according to SANA.
