UN says nearly 2 million Syrian IDPs return home since end of war

Nearly 2 million internally displaced Syrians and over 1.2 million refugees have returned to Syria since the fall of the Assad regime last year, according to the UN's refugee agency.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that as of Friday, some 1,950,090 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) had returned to their areas of origin around the country since 8 December, when a rebel coalition led by current interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled the regime in Damascus.

The agency detailed that 1,260,240 Syrian refugees had also returned home from abroad, including 560,000 people from Turkey, 172,000 from Jordan, and 383,326 from Lebanon.

At the height of Syria's refugee crisis, over 6 million had become refugees abroad, and 7.4 million were internally displaced.

Alongside registering returnees, UNHCR said it has distributed a $600 grant to 36,360 households, comprising 116,707 people, who have gone back to the country as part of an initiative to facilitate their return to Syria.

Other cash initiatives, including for shelter rehabilitation and to reestablish economic livelihoods, have continued to be rolled out by the agency, with the former being distributed to 560 households and the latter to 1,428 households.

Syria is facing a myriad of problems, with large swathes of the country's housing stock being damaged or destroyed as a result of 13 years of civil war.

Humanitarian agencies have urged for the reconstruction of the country, as well as cash incentives, stating they are vital to facilitate refugee returns.

Lebanon has already implemented a system to provide cash incentives to Syrians, to help facilitate their return.

The latest developments come as the UNHCR has stepped up its winter response efforts across Syria, distributing winter kits including clothing and sheets to thousands of people in Syria's coastal regions and in Hama.

In a post on X on Monday, the agency said that alongside the Syrian Red Crescent, it had distributed winter relief items, including clothes, blankets, and plastic sheeting, to 121 returned families in the city of Darayya outside Damascus.

The agency also said it was preparing to repatriate around 100 households currently held in the Al Hol and Roj refugee camps in north-east Syria, in line with similar Iraqi initiatives that have seen thousands repatriated to Iraq.

Those households are set to return to Aleppo City and Azaz on Monday, with the UN continuing reintegration efforts for returned families from the camps in Aleppo.

The agency added that it was also coordinating legal clinics with the Red Crescent to provide awareness sessions on legal issues for returnees, including on issues relating to documentation, divorce, custody, and the guardianship of minors.