'We defend ourselves' Kurdish female fighters look to their future in Syria

Following the official integration of the primarily Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the Syrian military, members of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) are left in limbo, unsure whether they will be permitted to integrate into the Syrian military like the men or whether they will be demobilized entirely.

The YPJ became one of the enduring symbols of the SDF, boasting the only female combat soldiers in the Middle East outside of Israel. For them this was a hard-won victory gaining them renown not just in their local communities but worldwide.

The new Syrian government is significantly more socially conservative than the SDF and while the agreement between Damascus and the SDF included full integration of the Kurdish forces into the Syrian military, the fate of the female fighters remains unclear.

The new Syrian Defence Ministry currently has no female personnel, and there appear to be no plans to allow for the creation of a female unit.

The Syrian Interior Ministry told Kurdish media that it welcomed the integration of the YPJ into the interior ministry. Interior Ministry Spokesman Noureddine al-Baba told Rudaw that the ministry “will benefit from their expertise” and that joining was not tied to any one geographic region within Syria, saying "any Syrian has the right to serve in any part of Syria."

The YPJ responded to the statements, saying that they "could be integrated as a distinct and organized force, into the structure of the Interior Ministry."

Women from the unit told Reuters that they don't draw their strength from the state but from each other, with 31-year-old YPJ unit commander Penaber Baran saying "Until today, we have never waited for anyone to defend us. We, as women, defended ourselves."