Syria: Up to one million people plan to return home in desperation

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Up to one million desperate Syrians living in camps and displacement sites across the country’s northwest intend to return home within the next year – sparking deep concerns of a new humanitarian crisis.

According to UN refugee agency, UNHCR, 600,000 people could be on the move in the next six months, according to its latest survey.

UNHCR spokesperson Celine Schmitt said on Friday that people will need “housing, jobs, schools, hospitals, electricity and clean water” – all of which are lacking after 14 years of civil conflict.

She described meeting one mother living in a tent with her children having fled from the rubble of her former home, without access to water, or employment – with the nearest school two kilometers away.

Yearning for home

The mother said she was “planning to take her tent and to go back home and put the tent next to her house, just to be back home…She was asking for small humanitarian help to be able to restart, to rebuild her life.”

Twenty-three districts in Syria could see their populations at least double, placing additional strain on already overstretched basic services and infrastructure.

The survey showed that 51 per cent of households intend to return to their areas of origin, with 93 per cent planning to go home within three to twelve months.

The survey took place between 26 January and 23 February, surveying 4,800 households – more than 29,000 individuals – in 514 displacement sites across northwest Syria.

As of January, more than 3.4 million IDPs were still in the northwest. The intention to return is particularly strong among IDPs in Idleb, where two in three households are opting to head home. Former frontline areas in the Idleb and Aleppo governorates are the primary intended destinations.

UN support for returnees

UNHCR and partners are providing transport, legal assistance and support in repairing damaged homes as well as mattresses, blankets and winter clothing for the tough months ahead.

“Nearly 14 years after the crisis began, Syria is at a crossroads, urgently needing support for rebuilding as years of conflict have devastated the economy and infrastructure, leaving 90 per cent of the population reliant on aid,” said Ms. Schmitt.

“There is now hope and a historic opportunity. UNHCR calls on the international community to make a firm commitment to support Syrians with essential aid for returnees and by investing in early recovery.”

© UNHCR/Hameed Maarouf

Temporary shelters stand in rows in rural Aleppo in Syria.

Seven million displaced overall: IOM

A new report released on Friday by the UN migration agency, IOM, shows that around 750,000 IDPs have already returned to their places of origin in Syria since November 2024. – but some seven million remain displaced.

IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) – the first such report on Syria since 2022 – shows that one in five displaced people in Syria are residing in tents or makeshift shelters, facing harsh living conditions.

Around 28 per cent of those who returned to their places of origin are residing in damaged or unfinished buildings.

“Syria remains a major humanitarian crisis, and the needs are immense.” said IOM Director General Amy Pope.

“IOM is dedicated to helping the people of Syria on their journey to recovery, and collecting and analyzing data like we’ve done in this new Displacement Tracking Matrix report is one of the key ways we will do that.”

As it re-establishes its presence in Damascus, IOM is reactivating its data collection operations in Syria so it can address critical knowledge gaps and enhance humanitarian coordination.

Returns from Lebanon, Türkiye and Iraq

Since January 2024, a total of 571,388 individuals have returned to Syria from abroad, of whom 259,745 returned to the country after November 2024, when events that led to the toppling of the Assad regime in early December gathered pace.

About 76 per cent of arrivals from aboard returned to their place of origin, while others returned to another location likely due to significant damage and security concerns in their place of origin, said IOM.

Fifty percent of Syrians returning from outside the country came from Lebanon, 22 per cent from Türkiye and 13 per cent from Iraq.