UNHCR says nearly 400,000 Syrians repatriated from Lebanon

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday that over 378,000 Syrian refugees had returned from Lebanon to Syria, as the 12th phase of the Organised Voluntary Return Programme began. The programme started in early July.

In a post on the social media platform X, the UNHCR Lebanon account stated, “With more than 378,000 Syrian refugees having returned, continued support remains essential to ensure a safe, dignified, and sustainable return.”

It added that “the 12th batch of the Lebanese government’s plan for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their homeland departed this morning from the capital Beirut, carrying Syrian refugee families back to their homes in Homs, Hama, Idlib, Damascus, and its countryside.”

For its part, Lebanon’s General Security said in a statement that it “organized the twelfth phase of the Lebanese government’s plan for the organized return of displaced Syrians from Lebanon to Syria.”

The statement added that “the convoy set off from Camille Chamoun Sports City in Beirut toward the General Security border centre at the Masnaa crossing, in coordination with the Syrian security authorities on the other side of the border.”

Around 1.8 million Syrians fled to Lebanon during the 14-year Syrian conflict. Many come from towns and cities that have suffered extensive destruction.

In Lebanon, they suffered racism and discrimination, with many Lebanese blaming them for the country’s economic problems.

Following the December 2024 fall of the Assad regime however, many Syrian refugees have been encouraged to return.

In June, the Lebanese government announced a new multi-stage plan for the return of Syrians to their country. Lebanese estimates indicate that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is around 1.8 million, including approximately 880,000 registered with UNHCR.

Current Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa previously said that most Syrians living abroad would return within the next two years, although this appears optimistic, given Syria’s continued economic and political problems and the amount of reconstruction required to build devastated towns and cities.

An estimated one million Syrians have returned out of a total estimated refugee population of 6 million.