Approximately 2 million internally displaced persons have returned to their places of origin or former residence in Syria following the political transition in December 2024, while nearly 1.25 million Syrian refugees have repatriated from abroad, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
The agency reported that 1,246,037 individuals have returned to Syria from other countries between December 8, 2024 and November 20 of this year, with an additional 1,944,762 internally displaced persons returning to their home regions.
A UNHCR survey among internally displaced Syrians revealed that 27% of respondents plan to return to their places of origin. Of these, 50% intend to do so within 12 months, 15% within six months, and 11% within three months. Primary motivations include emotional desire to return (66%), better employment and living opportunities (43%), family circumstances (39%), and improved housing prospects (36%).
Conversely, 57% of displaced persons prefer to remain in their current locations, citing major return obstacles such as lack of basic housing and property issues (74%), absence of essential services like electricity and water (63%), unemployment (63%), and insufficient funds for transportation and resettlement (44%).
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Steve Calcott/Creative Commons 2.0
Based on materials from TASS