Nearly 30% of Syrians want to go home, up from almost zero: UNHRC chief

Published January 25,2025

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Almost 30% of the tens of millions of Syrian refugees dwelling in Middle Eastern nations wish to return dwelling within the subsequent yr, following the autumn of Bashar al-Assad, up from nearly none final yr, the top of the U.N.’s refugee company mentioned.

The shift is predicated on an evaluation achieved by the U.N. in January, weeks after Assad was ousted by Islamist rebels, bringing an abrupt finish to a 13-year civil warfare that had created one of many largest refugee crises of recent occasions.

“We have seen the needle move, finally, after years of decline,” Filippo Grandi advised a small group of reporters in Damascus, after holding conferences with the Syria’s new ruling administration.

The variety of Syrians wishing to return “had reached almost zero. It’s now nearly 30% in the space of a few weeks. There is a message there, which I think is very important, must be listened to and must be acted upon,” he mentioned.

Around 200,000 Syrian refugees have already returned since Assad fell, he mentioned, along with round 300,000 who fled again to Syria from Lebanon through the Hezbollah-Israel warfare in September and October, most of whom are thought to have stayed.

Returning the roughly 6 million Syrians who fled overseas and the tens of millions who turned internally displaced has been a foremost purpose of Syria’s new administration.

But the civil warfare has left giant components of many main cities in ruins, companies decrepit and the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants dwelling in poverty. Syria stays below a harsh Western sanctions regime that successfully cuts off its formal economic system from the remainder of the world.

To assist Syrians returning, a lot of whom typically promote all their belongings to pay for the journey, U.N. businesses are offering some money assist for transportation and can assist with meals and to reconstruct no less than components of damaged houses, Grandi mentioned.

More assist is required from donors, Grandi mentioned, and sanctions must be reconsidered. He didn’t remark straight on an announcement on Friday by the brand new U.S. administration of a broad suspension of international assist programmes.

“If sanctions are lifted, this will improve the conditions in the places where people return,” he mentioned.

The U.S. earlier this month offered a six-month sanctions exemption for some sectors, together with power, however Syria’s new leaders say far more aid is required.

Grandi mentioned refugees have been responding to a political course of that the brand new administration’s chief Ahmed Sharaa has dedicated to, geared toward producing a governing authority by March 1 that higher represents Syria’s range.

“Refugees are listening to what he’s saying, to what his people are saying, and that’s why I think many people decided to go back,” Grandi mentioned. “But many more will come if these things continue to be positive.”