Afrinpost – Special
Through a series of written reports, Afrinpost continues to monitor the current reality of villages, towns and farms in the occupied Afrin region in northern Syria, in terms of demography, violations and changes brought about by the Turkish occupation and its militias.
The village of Raja / Hamorajo, one of the villages in the occupied Afrin region, is living under occupation conditions and has been subjected to settlements, arrest campaigns and kidnappings. More than three-quarters of its original Kurdish people have left it.
The village of Raja / Hamorajo is located in Mobata / Maabatli district in the countryside of Afrin, and the number of houses in it was (55), and its population reached (800) people.
Occupying the village:
On 15/3/2018, the militias of the so-called “Syrian National Army” announced their control over the villages of Berke, Chumazna and Reca in Sheikh Al-Hadid district in Afrin, and at that time most of its people had been displaced to Afrin due to the bombing and battles.
According to a source from the village residents, the bombing caused damage to homes and buildings in the village, most notably: Half of the village school and a number of houses were damaged, such as the entire villa of Faiq Ramzi Haqqi and the house of Faiq Ramzi Haqqi, a resident of Ali Jaro village on Raja Road.
The village is under the control of the “al-Shamiya Front” militia, and since the occupation of the village, it has committed all kinds of violations, including kidnapping, demanding ransoms, cutting down trees and imposing royalties.
The militia leader in the village, called Fida al-Jasim, nicknamed Abu Sufyan, comes from al-Bab area, in addition to Abu Dibo, Abu Hamza, Abu Muhammad al-Homsi from Homs, Khalid Abu Haider, and Abu al-Hol are known to control the village, and they used the Asayish headquarters previously for them.
According to a source from the village, 715 citizens out of 800 residents of the village have been displaced. He added: “The Turkish occupation has settled 1,300 settlers from Eastern al-Ghouta and Idlib.”
Violations of the occupation militia:
Thefts:
Regarding the most prominent violations that the village was subjected to, the source said: “Abdo Bakr’s house was stolen by the gunman Abu Hamza before he seized the house, while every settlement family seized the house of an exiled Kurdish citizen.”
-Olive trees
According to the source, gunmen and settlers seized olive fields belonging to each of the citizens: Walid Haji Bakr (200) trees, Abdo Bakr (600) trees, Mahmoud Arif Bakr (200) trees, Muhammad Haji Bakr (300) trees and cut down (50) and Qadir Khalil Ibrahim (300) trees.
Likewise, royalties were imposed on the villagers in exchange for allowing them to harvest the olive season.
Kidnapping and arrest:
The people of the village have been subjected arrests and kidnappings, and the pretext for the arrests is the same every time, which is to work with the party. They were kidnapped and ransoms were imposed on them ranging between (400-600) Turkish liras.
Repeated kidnappings and releases aim to pressure Kurdish citizens and blackmail them to obtain money, while forcing them to leave the village and displace them, as part of the demographic change plan. Among the most prominent of those who were kidnapped are: “Abdo Bakr (twice), Shervan Bakr (4 times and imprisoned for two months), Fu’ad Ali Bakr (4 times), and Sheikho Muhammad Bakr (twice).
Among the most prominent citizens who were kidnapped is the young woman, Nairouz Anwar Bakr (17 years old), who appeared in the video clip among the kidnapped women in al-Hamzat mercenary prison on 05/28/2020. She was the first woman to be released, as tal-Hamzah militia gunmen released her on 6/1/2020.
On 05/26/2020, the village was subjected to an arrest campaign against seven Kurdish citizens, including elderly people, and they were:
1- Hussein Sheikho / Mukhtar of the village (65 years), who was released due to the deterioration of his health condition, 2- Battal Muhammad Sheikho (55 years), 3- Haitham Ramzi Hamo (52 years), 4- Ali Hamo (55 years), 5 Hanif Arif Shaara (56 years old) 6- Hanif Hannan (60 years old), 7. Muhammad Barim (60 years old). They were released a few days later, after they paid the ransom
On 3/6/2020 and over a period of three days, the Military Police militia, in coordination with the militias of the so-called “National Army”, imposed a suffocating siege on the village of (Raja) in the Ma’abatli district, and began randomly searching all homes, breaking the contents and confiscating cell phones and Computers. An additional batch of five citizens, from the village’s inhabitants, among them elderly, were arrested:
1- Hamid Ibrahim son of Khalil (70 years old), 2 Aziz Hussain son of Sheikho (60 years old), 4 Horik Naasan son of Rashid (37 years old), and 5. Azad Ibrahim son of Jamil (30 years old).
On 6/8/2020, “al-Shamiya Front” militia kidnapped 8 people from the village of Reca, namely:
1- Ali Hamo, 2- Hussein Sheikho, 3- Aziz Sheikho, 4- Battal Muhammad Sheikho, 5- Hanif Hanan, 6- Haitham Ramzi Haji Hamo, 7 Hanif Arif Shaara, 8 Muhammad Brim. They demanded the families of the kidnapped people to pay the ransom in exchange for their release, so that both Hanif Hannan and Muhammad Brim were released after the ransom was paid by their relatives.
