Members of “Al-Hamzat” faction impose financial payments on Serekaniye IDPs in exchange for vacating their homes

Displaced residents from the city of Serekaniye/Ras al-Ain have faced a series of ongoing violations since Turkish-backed armed factions took control of the city in 2019, most notably the seizure of their homes and extortion in return for vacating them.

Several displaced individuals reported that members of “Al-Hamzat” faction, who currently reside in their homes, are demanding payments of up to $1,500 USD in exchange for leaving the houses without damaging the property or stealing the furniture.

A homeowner in the southern Mahatta neighborhood told ASO News Network:
“One of Al-Hamzat faction members occupying my house threatened to break the doors and windows if I didn’t send him $1,500 in exchange for him leaving the house without taking the belongings.”

In another testimony from the northern Mahatta neighborhood, another local stated that a faction member has been living in his home for years and refuses to communicate with him despite repeated attempts. He expressed concern that the member might leave at any moment, taking the remaining belongings in the house.

These incidents have been repeated in several neighborhoods across the city, amid the absence of any authority capable of protecting the rights of the original residents, who were forcibly displaced from their areas following the Turkish occupation and its allied armed factions in 2019. This has occurred under complete silence from the forces currently controlling the city.

Thousands of displaced people from Serekaniye/Ras al-Ain have been living in tragic conditions since their forced displacement, whether in displacement camps or in nearby cities. Meanwhile, the fate of their properties remains unknown, in what many describe as “systematic and organized seizure.”

*Image from the internet