‘Kuwaiti-backed’ NGO establishing settlement for displaced in Afrin: monitor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The construction of a 300-house settlement in northern Syria’s Afrin for displaced people by a “Kuwaiti-backed” non-governmental organization is contributing to demographic change in the formerly Kurdish-majority area, warns a conflict monitor.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday that “demographic change by Turkish forces and their proxy factions in Afrin city and surrounding areas in progress,” saying that their sources have alerted them of "Kuwaiti-backed" Sham al-Khair Humanitarian Organization’s construction of settlement, Kuwait al-Rahma, in a village in the Shirawa district of Afrin’s countryside.

The watchdog echoes fears of many Kurds that plans to permanently settle displaced people, who are mostly Arab and Turkmen, in the area are contributing to efforts to rid the area of its original Kurdish inhabitants.

The Afrin Local Council, which governs the area, confirmed the construction of the settlement in a statement late Saturday.

Mohammed Sheikh Rasheed, deputy head of the council and Ahmed Haji Hussein head of Afrin Health Directorate, “visited the site where Kuwait al-Rahma village is being constructed to review the progress of work on it,” according to the statement, adding that project is being constructed by Sham al-Khair Humanitarian Organization - which is licensed by Ankara. However, it did not mention who funds the project.

The settlement is dedicated to “the families of the displaced in Afrin, and the village consists of 300 houses in addition to a mosque, clinic, school and institute for memorizing the Holy Quran,” according to the Council.

Turkey, with the support of Syrian militia groups, launched Operation Olive Branch against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) forces in Afrin in January 2018 and invaded it two months later. The city is now administered by groups backed by Turkey who have been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Afrin-based Human Rights Organization warned last year that only 34.8 percent of the city’s population were Kurds in January 2020, claiming that the ethnic group had previously made up 97 percent of the population.

“The number of arrivals from various other regions makes up 65.2 percent of the population,” it added.

Local sources told Rudaw earlier this month that Turkish Ihsan Relief and Development Foundation has built a 247-house settlement for non-Kurds in Afrin. Video footage submitted to Rudaw by an Afrin district local shows settlement camps in Shader village, located almost 13 kilometers east of the town of Jindires.

Rudaw English could not independently verify that the Kuwait al-Rahma is being funded by Kuwait. It reached out to the Kuwaiti-funded International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO) - which has funded similar settlements in other parts of Syria - to see if they are the donors but they were not available to comment.

The UK-based war monitor also reported that Turkey and its Syrian allies have tried to receive funds from European countries to establish commercial and architectural projects in Afrin but “failed.”

‘Kuwaiti-backed’ NGO establishing settlement for displaced in Afrin: monitor

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