Report on the forum “Migration and Displacement in North and East Syria”

The migration and displacement forum, organized by Rojava Center for Strategic Studies under the title: “Migration and Displacement in Northern and Eastern Syria: Causes, Consequences, Suggestions, and Proceedings” on Monday, 28-1-2024, in Mohammed Sheikho Hall for Culture and Art in Qamishli, was attended by more than 160 personalities from researchers, academics, politicians, representatives of intellectual, educational, and social institutions, civil society organizations, representatives from the Autonomous Administration, and those interested in public affairs; the forum is considered the biggest challenge to the policies that the Turkish occupation state and the hostile countries to the Autonomous Administration are trying to implement in the region.

Timing:

The convening of the migration and displacement forum may have been late, but it will have an impact on reducing migration from the region. It is considered a major challenge to Turkish threats trying to empty the region. The timing of the forum, despite its delay, is very important, especially after the increasing pace of migration and displacement attempts that have reached their peak by the Turkish occupation targeting infrastructure and civil institutions in order to push people to migrate, and continue the policy of displacement against the citizens in the occupied areas.

The messages conveyed by the convening of the migration and displacement forum:

This forum carried many messages, the most prominent of which are:

A message to the parties opposing the Autonomous Administration and trying to incite the people against it, stating that the people remain on their land despite the relentless efforts of the Turkish occupation and other parties to push them to migrate.

It also carried a message to the international community, stating that its silence does not diminish the determination of the people to cling to the land, seek solutions to problems, and find a mechanism to stand against the policies targeting the region and attempts at demographic change.

The main topics discussed in the forum, and the importance of the forum:

The lecturers focused on the history of migration in the world, its causes, and its impact on the countries from which its people were displaced, as well as on the host countries.

They also focused on the form of migration in the northern and eastern regions of Syria, and the policies pursued by the Turkish occupation through targeting infrastructure, civil institutions, hospitals, and schools to push people to migrate. These policies aim to empty the area to bring about demographic change. In addition, they talked about the policies practiced by the occupying countries in Kurdistan against the Kurdish people, and their attempts to empty the Kurdish areas of their original inhabitants. The economic situation had the largest share in the topics discussed by the lecturers, by talking about the economic situation in northern and eastern Syria, as well as discussing the dereliction in some of the Autonomous Administration institutions, which negatively affect the lives of citizens. Therefore, some solutions were proposed to improve the economic situation, and some recommendations and suggestions were made to the relevant authorities.

In addition to many inputs that enriched the forum, which were characterized by democracy and freedom of expression, where the participants criticized some dereliction in certain institutions, and also confirmed their continued resistance and adherence to this land and confronting the practiced policies, and also the participants presented some suggestions to improve the economic situation in the region.

As for the final statement, it focused on the outputs, proposals that express the aspirations, suggestions, and recommendations of the participants.

The final statement included the following outputs:

1. Emphasizing that the phenomenon of migration and displacement threatens the human and existential security of the communities in northern and eastern Syria with all their components.
2. Emphasizing that the forced displacement carried out by the Turkish forces and their affiliated armed groups against the indigenous population in the occupied areas of northern and eastern Syria, constitutes crimes against humanity, and is classified as genocide and war crimes according to the Charter of the United Nations and the Geneva Conventions of 1948 and the two Additional Protocols of 1977. It is also considered a violation of human and international norms.
3. Condemning the displacement operations carried out by the Turkish forces and their affiliated armed groups against the indigenous population in the occupied areas of northern and eastern Syria.

As for the proposals and recommendations, they are:

1. Calling on the Autonomous Administration to respond effectively to the living crisis and drought disaster, and involving the community, scientific and economic elites, unions, and professional associations in striving to improve the living conditions.
2. Urging opposing parties to the Autonomous Administration to engage in constructive criticism and eliminate hate speech in the region’s political life.
3. Calling on human rights and relief organizations (international and national) to take responsibility and speak out against the violations and abuses occurring in the occupied areas of northern and eastern Syria.
4. Calling on the sons and daughters of northern and eastern Syria not to emigrate and to cling to the land of their ancestors, and calling on migrants to return.
5. Establishing a specialized intellectual and scientific center for migration research and documenting displacement operations attached to this center, with employees who are specialized and experienced.
6. Calling for firm enforcement of laws and legislation issued by the Autonomous Administration to combat human trafficking and reduce migration.

Many suggestions, recommendations, and solutions have been presented in the forum by the lecturers and participants.

At Rojava Center for Strategic Studies, we will sort through these suggestions, recommendations, and solutions, and deliver them to the relevant authorities. We will also work on following up on them until tangible results are achieved.