Post-Assad Syria sees massive repatriation wave, UN reports

Approximately 850,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government in December, a senior official with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated. The number could climb to over 1 million in the coming weeks, signaling a major shift in one of the world’s largest and longest-standing displacement crises.

Speaking to The Associated Press during a visit to Damascus, UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly T. Clements described the ongoing return of refugees as a pivotal moment in Syria’s post-conflict recovery.

“It’s a dynamic period. It’s an opportunity where we could see potentially solutions for the largest global displacements that we have seen in the last 14 years,” said Clements, who has spent the past three days in the country.

In addition to refugee returns, an estimated 1.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have also made their way back to their home communities, as the interim central government has reasserted control over significant portions of Syrian territory.

Syria’s civil war, which erupted in March 2011, has resulted in the deaths of nearly half a million people and displaced more than half of the pre-war population of 23 million. Over five million Syrians fled the country, primarily to neighboring states such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Türkiye.

Clements emphasized that the motivations behind return vary widely. “Everybody has a different reason for coming back now, while some are delaying and waiting to see how things go,” she noted.

During her visit, Clements traveled to a major border crossing with Lebanon, where she witnessed a high volume of returning Syrians. Long queues of trucks and individuals stretched along the crossing point, illustrating the scale of the ongoing repatriation.

Lebanon, which hosts the highest number of refugees per capita globally, recently introduced a policy allowing undocumented Syrians to leave the country without penalty if they departed by the end of August. The move triggered a surge of departures over the past several days.

“Returns numbers are exceptionally high,” Clements said, underscoring the scale of the reverse migration.

However, the optimism following Assad’s ouster has been tempered by fresh sectarian violence. In March, attacks targeting Assad’s Alawite minority in Syria’s coastal region left hundreds dead. Similar violence erupted in July in the southern province of Sweida, where clashes between Druze fighters and pro-government gunmen resulted in significant bloodshed.

Clements reported that approximately 190,000 people were displaced in southern Syria due to the July fighting. In response, humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR, have dispatched 21 relief convoys to the affected areas.

She highlighted recent improvements in access to southern regions: “The Damascus-Sweida highway, blocked for weeks by pro-government gunmen, is now open, which is very important because that will allow much more relief to come into the area.”

By Vafa Guliyeva