The city of Raqqa is witnessing a significant escalation in the state of fear among Kurdish families, as they face ongoing harassment and threats that are forcing them to leave their homes and head toward safer areas in the Hasakah governorate.
According to testimonies obtained by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), one resident reported being repeatedly subjected to ethnically motivated harassment. He noted that his Kurdish national identity has become a source of danger within Raqqa, where Kurds are frequently accused of being loyalists to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), further intensifying the targeting and pressure against them.
In the same context, many Kurdish families are being forced to sell their property and homes or flee the city without liquidating their assets due to fears of violations. Information indicates that homes left unoccupied are being subjected to looting.
A woman, in a testimony to the Syrian Observatory, stated that she was forced to displace from Raqqa about a week ago, only to be surprised later by unidentified individuals setting her house on fire—an incident that reflects the magnitude of the risks haunting the property of displaced Kurds in Raqqa.
Local sources report that some families have received direct threats from armed individuals belonging to local Arab tribes. These threats included explicit warnings such as, “Either you leave or we will kidnap your children,” which has heightened the sense of terror and driven more families to displace via unsafe routes.
These developments come amid a continued state of security chaos and a lack of adequate protection for Kurdish citizens, exacerbating the suffering of the Kurdish population and fueling a new wave of displacement within the governorate.
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