One million displaced in northwest Syria plan to return home – UNHCR
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Friday that nearly one million displaced Syrians in northwestern Syria are planning to return to their areas of origin within the next year.
A recent survey conducted by UNHCR and its partners revealed “Up to 1 million internally displaced people (IDPs) living in camps and displacement sites across north-west Syria intend to return to their areas of origin within the next year, 600,000 of them in the next six months.”
In February, UNHCR launched an appeal to raise $370.9 million to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees from neighboring countries and support IDPs within Syria.
According to UNHCR, northwestern Syria hosts more than 3.4 million IDPs, with 1.95 million residing in 1,500 camps and informal settlements across Idlib and Aleppo.
Speaking from Damascus to reporters in Geneva, UNHCR spokesperson Celine Schmitt highlighted that return intentions are particularly strong among displaced families in Idlib, where two out of three surveyed households expressed a desire to return.
Schmitt noted that the primary destinations for return are former front-line areas in Idlib and Aleppo, especially Maarat al-Numan and Jabal Saman.
She emphasized the urgent need for international support to rebuild Syria’s devastated infrastructure and economy, stressing that 90 percent of the population remains dependent on aid after years of conflict.
“There is now hope and a historic opportunity. UNHCR calls on the international community to make a firm commitment to support Syrians with essential aid for returnees and by investing in early recovery.”