Located in Duhok province, Bardarash camp is home to 6,528 Syrian refugees, mostly Kurds, who entered the Kurdistan Region in October of last year after Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring against Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria.
The facility is managed by the Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF). Bewar Karim, head of the camp located 55 kilometres northeast of Erbil province, told Rudaw English on Monday that more than 429 refugees began returning on buses to their hometowns in northern Syria.
“Today [Monday] at least 429 people left Bardarash camp and returned to their hometowns in Rojava [northern Syria],” Karim said. “The return process was implemented in coordination with the Kurdistan Regional government (KRG) and officials in northern Syria.”
Karim revealed that the initial number of people planning to return on Monday was 442, but 13 refugees refused to go back to their hometown due to security reasons.
“Some of the refugees who are returning to Rojava are students who need to attend their schools, some others are government employees and need to go back to their hometown before getting sacked,” Karim said, using the Kurdish name for north-east Syria.
According to Karim, this is the second group of returnees to depart from the camp.
“This is the second batch of refugees to return to their hometowns in northern Syria from Bardarash camp, between October 16, 2019 and March 1, 2020 at least 850 refugees returned,” Karim added.
Turkey conducted Operation Peace Spring in collaboration with Syrian proxy groups, who have been condemned since October by local and international leaders and institutions for alleged violation of human rights, including the use of banned weapons and mass civilian population displacement.
According to the KRG’s Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC), 20,790 Syrian refugees have entered the Kurdistan Region since October.
