Gaziantep -
Adnan (34-year-old Syrian refugee) is preparing with his family to leave the Turkish city of Gaziantep and proceed towards the Jarabulus crossing, after announcing the opening of the crossing to Syrians residing in the Turkish states affected by the earthquake.
Adnan wants to spend a few months with his family in the countryside of the city of Manbij, east of Aleppo, after the horror he experienced with his family following the earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, on February 6.
The Jarabulus border crossing between Turkey and Syria opens its doors to refugees, similar to other border crossings that allowed Syrians to cross into Syria through it, such as the Bab al-Hawa, Bab al-Salama and Tal Abyad crossings.
Refugees holding "temporary protection" documents, in addition to Syrians holding "tourist residence" and dual nationals (Syrian-Turkish), can cross through one of the available crossings into Syria.
The number of refugees who returned to Syria exceeded 10,000 with the passage of the fifth day since the opening of some crossings, such as Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salama.
Bab Al-Hawa crossing buses carrying refugees towards the Syrian side (Al-Jazeera)
There is no other choice
With the frequency of aftershocks and in light of the residents of the affected states’ fear of other earthquakes in southern Turkey, some of them chose to live temporarily in states outside the area affected by the recent earthquake, while there are thousands of Syrian refugees who did not have many options, so they decided to return to Syria in this period of time.
Among those who returned to northern Syria, Yasser al-Khalaf (a 27-year-old Syrian refugee), told Al-Jazeera Net: "It is an opportunity to meet his family and relatives, and it is also a way to spend some time after the earthquake they felt in southern Turkey."
He added, "After the earthquake, he moved with his family to a safe gathering center at Gaziantep University, but despite the availability of all facilities...they are still afraid because of the aftershocks they felt during their stay in the gathering."
It seems that the return option was the only option for thousands of Syrian refugees, as the border crossings between the Turkish and Syrian sides witnessed noticeable crowding during the past few days.
Syrians are waiting for their relatives coming from Turkey on the Syrian side of the Bab Al-Hawa crossing (Al-Jazeera)
meeting after 5 years
Allowing Syrian refugees to cross into Syria to spend a few months and then return to Turkey is an outlet for them, especially for those who have not seen their families for years.
Fahd Al-Mousa (30-year-old Syrian refugee) resides in Istanbul, and views this vacation as an opportunity that will not be repeated in order to go to Syria and meet his family. He tells Al-Jazeera Net: "I packed my luggage and will go during the next week to the Jarabulus crossing to enter Syria."
The young man continues, "He has not met his family for 5 years because of his inability to book an appointment during the past two years, as he finds it an irreplaceable opportunity."
According to him, during the past few days, he was closely following the decisions of the border crossings on their official websites, until most of the crossings were opened to Syrian refugees.
Bab al-Hawa crossing, one of the main crossings between Turkey and northern Syria (Al-Jazeera)
difference in decisions
With the opening of the Bab al-Hawa, Bab al-Salamah, Jarabulus and Tal Abyad crossings, there was a difference in the decisions of these crossings with what was announced by the Syrian-Turkish joint committee.
The committee had announced that the exceptional leave is for residents of the Turkish regions affected by the earthquake, while the Jarabulus crossing clarified that the leave includes residents of all Turkish provinces who are Syrian refugees.
To find out, the director of communication in the Syrian-Turkish Joint Committee, Enas Al-Najjar, told Al-Jazeera Net: "People who will travel to Syria from all states must go exclusively to the Jarabulus crossing, while the rest of the crossings are limited to residents of the states affected by the earthquake."
Enas adds that "those who will go to Syria through other crossings, except for Jarabulus, will be a voluntary return," meaning that they will not be able to return to Turkey later.
Al-Jazeera Net correspondent in southern Turkey had monitored hundreds of inquiries from Syrian refugees interested in returning to Syria during this period in light of the different decisions of the Syrian crossings regarding the details of the (exceptional leave).
Decisions details
The Jarabulus crossing had announced that the period of the exceptional leave is (the minimum is one month and the maximum is 6 months), while the crossing will be open on all days, including Saturday and Sunday.
On the other hand, the administration of the Bab al-Hawa crossing restricted entry to Syria in the context of the exceptional leave for the Syrians who were residing in the affected states (Hatay - Kahramanmaraş - Diyarbakir - Gaziantep - Kilis - Adiyaman - Sanliurfa - Osmaniye - Malatya - Adana), while Duration of leave (minimum of 3 months and maximum of 6 months).
As for the administration of the Bab al-Salama crossing, it announced the priority of entry for Syrians residing in the states affected by the earthquake, provided that the period of leave is (at least one month and maximum 6 months).
With regard to the Al-Rai border crossing, the crossing administration denied the rumors about its opening for the Syrians in Turkey to cross into Syria.
As for the Tal Abyad border crossing, entry into Syria was restricted to residents of the states affected by the earthquake, while specifying the duration of the exceptional leave (the minimum being 3 months and the maximum being 6 months).
The border crossings limited the temporary return of Syrian refugees to Syria to going directly to the crossing, with the exception of the Bab al-Salama crossing, which allocated a link to book an appointment before proceeding to the border gate to enter Syria.