Enab Baladi – Ras al-Ain
The suffering of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain continues amid difficult living and humanitarian conditions, in a geographic isolation experienced by residents since 2019, despite the recent agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on March 10, which included the integration of Kurdish forces into the Syrian army and the unification of security efforts in northeastern Syria.
Despite the SDF’s withdrawal from Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain in 2019, following the Peace Spring Operation, it still controls the main roads leading from al-Hasakah and Raqqa to the two cities, imposing a blockade that hinders the movement of civilians and goods, exacerbating the suffering of the residents.
Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad are located near the Turkish border and are under the direct control of the Turkish army and the Syrian National Army (SNA), bordered by fronts of fighting with the SDF. The Turkish border is their only outlet to the outside.
No change on the ground
After the recent agreement, Mustafa al-Adawi hoped the roads between Tal Abyad and Syrian provinces would open, hoping to receive treatment in hospitals there. However, the situation has not changed; rather, the blockade and restrictions by the SDF on the region have increased.
Al-Adawi, a fifty-something-year-old from the village of Mashrafat al-Sheikh in Tal Abyad, suffers from a heart condition that requires a stent to improve his condition.
In 2024, he was transferred to Turkey for surgery, but it was unsuccessful, and he returned to Tal Abyad hoping to have the surgery done in Damascus.
Al-Adawi told Enab Baladi that the doctor informed him that the surgery needed to be done within a month, and at the latest within three months, or else his health condition would deteriorate and pose a risk to his life.
According to Enab Baladi‘s observations, Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain suffer from a significant shortage of medicines, a lack of doctors, and a lack of job opportunities. This is due to the small area measuring no more than 120 km in length and 30 km in width, making reaching essential needs a dangerous and complicated matter.
Meanwhile, twenty-something-year-old Odai al-Azouz from the town of Suluk in the Tal Abyad countryside obtained his high school diploma with excellent grades in 2023. After the Syrian government recognized the high school certificates issued from the region, he decided to enroll at Aleppo University to continue his higher education.
Despite the agreement between Damascus and the SDF, al-Azouz was unable to leave Suluk to enroll at the university due to the blockade and fear of arrest.
The young man told Enab Baladi that the only way to reach the Syrian provinces is through “smuggling,” at a cost of about 200 US dollars (two million Syrian pounds) per person, a sum that is difficult for him to secure given that he comes from a low-income background and earns no more than 80,000 Syrian pounds a day.
He noted that only financially capable students can travel to the Syrian provinces because their financial conditions are better compared to others.
Damascus-SDF agreement
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, agreed on March 10, 2025, on the following:
Ensuring the rights of all Syrians in representation and participation in the political process and all state institutions based on competency, regardless of their religious and ethnic backgrounds. The Kurdish community is an integral part of the Syrian state, and the Syrian state guarantees its citizenship and all its constitutional rights. A ceasefire across all Syrian territories. Integrating all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria under the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, airports, and oil and gas fields. Ensuring the return of all displaced Syrians to their towns and villages, and securing their protection by the Syrian state. Supporting the Syrian state in combating the remnants of the Assad regime and all threats that jeopardize its security and unity. Rejecting calls for division, hate speech, and attempts to sow discord among all components of Syrian society. The executive committees aim to implement the agreement by the end of 2025.Clashes have not ceased
Since the fall of the previous Syrian regime, clashes have not stopped between the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and the SDF, continuing with the use of medium weapons, in addition to artillery and Turkish drones.
Fifty-something-year-old Ali al-Hamad from the village of al-Mubarakiyah east of Ras al-Ain has been unable to cultivate his agricultural land since 2019 due to ongoing shelling and clashes between the National Army and the SDF.
Al-Hamad attempted to cultivate his land in 2020 but was directly targeted by the SDF, resulting in his son being injured in the shoulder. He was only able to leave the land after the Turkish army sent an armored vehicle to evacuate them, and his son was taken to Turkey for treatment.
Al-Hamad told Enab Baladi that he was forced to look for an alternative source of income, so he set up a stand to sell fuel in his village to meet his family’s needs.
He indicated that the situation in his village has not changed after the agreement between Damascus and the SDF, as the sounds of clashes and daily incursions by the SDF into his village continue.
Arrests and disappearances in prisons
A smuggler working between Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad to the Syrian provinces stated to Enab Baladi that the SDF tightened the blockade on the area after the fall of the Syrian regime on December 8, 2024.
He explained that the SDF arrested dozens of people, especially locals, who attempted to cross into the Syrian provinces through smuggling routes, and despite their families paying substantial amounts, they received no information about their fate.
He added that the SDF only allows the passage of displaced families wishing to return to their original areas through smuggling routes.
Moreover, the majority of those arrested by the SDF are locals attempting to enter the Syrian provinces, accused of dealing with Turkey and the National Army.
Enab Baladi contacted the public relations office of the Syrian government for clarifications regarding any measures concerning Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, such as opening roads, facilitating the passage of residents, or allowing goods to enter and exit the two cities, but did not receive a response by the time this report was published.
The residents of the two cities primarily rely on the agriculture sector as their main source of livelihood, with the Syrian pound being the primary currency used. However, the disturbed economic reality and the blockade have burdened the residents, making it exceedingly difficult to secure their daily needs.
Although the Turkish lira is not widely used, it is the second currency due to the proximity of the two cities to the Turkish border, while the US dollar ranks third.
Despite Damascus-SDF understandings, isolation and suffering continue in Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain Enab Baladi.
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