More than 125,000 Refugees Return to Syria in Desperate Conditions
January 9, 2025
Damascus, Syria – Over 125,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their war-torn homeland in 2024, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The majority of these returnees are coming from Lebanon, where an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees have been living in precarious conditions.
The decision to return to Syria has been a difficult one for many refugees, who have been displaced from their homes for years. The country remains deeply scarred by the ongoing conflict, and basic services such as healthcare, education, and water are severely lacking.
“These returns are not taking place in conditions of safety and dignity,” said Sivanka Dhanapala, UNHCR’s Representative in Syria. “Many refugees are returning to areas where there is no housing, no jobs, and no essential services.”
The UNHCR has warned that the returns are putting a strain on already overstretched resources in Syria. The agency has appealed for $594 million to provide emergency assistance to the returnees, including food, shelter, and healthcare.
Among the returnees is a 35-year-old man named Omar, who fled Syria in 2012 with his family. He told the UNHCR that he decided to return home because he was tired of living in a refugee camp in Lebanon.
“There was no future for me there,” said Omar. “I wanted to go home and rebuild my life.”
But Omar’s return to Syria has been anything but easy. He and his family are living in a tent in a makeshift camp on the outskirts of Damascus. They have no access to clean water or electricity, and there is no school for his children.
“I knew it would be difficult,” said Omar. “But I never imagined it would be this hard.”
The UNHCR estimates that over 2.5 million Syrian refugees have returned to their country since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. The majority of them have returned to areas that are still unsafe, and they face significant challenges in rebuilding their lives.
The international community must continue to support the Syrian people, both those who have returned home and those who remain displaced. Essential services must be restored, and the conditions for safe and dignified returns must be created.
More than 125,000 refugees return to Syria in desperate conditions
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