http://www.wsj.com/articles/syrias-kurds-have-carved-out-a-statelet-adding-new-snags-to-a-complex-region-1472661321

In some villages, Sunni Arab residents who fled as the YPG pushed out the Sunni extremists of Islamic State have been banned from returning to their homes, according to some former residents and Syrian Kurdish officials.

Officials defend the ban on the grounds that Rojava is vulnerable to continuing attacks from Islamic State sleeper cells and sympathizers. Mass expulsions also are justified under tribal customs if one or two people in a family are members of Islamic State, say some Kurdish administration officials.

“No matter what, we are a tribal culture. So if there are problems that happen between my tribe and another family, the family at the very least is expelled,” says Takoshar Tulhildaan, a commanding officer in the Kurdish administration’s security force.

Ethnic cleansing, no matter how you spin it.