UNHCR: More than half a million Syrians have returned to their homes.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees revealed that more than half a million Syrian refugees have returned to the country since the fall of the previous regime, at a rate of nearly 100,000 returnees per month, expressing concerns about the enormous challenges facing the returnees and the overall situation in Syria.
Lujain Hassan, the protection officer at the UNHCR office in Syria, stated on the organization's official website: "The number of returnees to Syria is approaching 500,000 people," noting that these individuals "are starting their lives from scratch and are in urgent need of our support to reintegrate into their communities, but the main and fundamental challenge lies in the lack of funding."
Hassan expressed optimism among the returning families despite the difficulties, saying: "When you meet the returnees, you see hope in their eyes, they want to rebuild not only their homes but the entire country, it is truly time for investment and an attempt to support these people in building a new life."
The UNHCR emphasized on its website that its ability to provide assistance to all those in need remains limited due to a sharp decline in humanitarian aid funding, hindering recovery and stability efforts.
The agency pointed out that the number of Syrians returning from neighboring countries has exceeded 500,000 refugees, in addition to around 1.2 million internally displaced persons who have returned to their areas in the past five months.
The UNHCR is collaborating with the Syrian authorities and other partners to support returning refugees and internally displaced persons by rehabilitating damaged homes, providing legal assistance to recover lost documents and properties, and launching economic empowerment programs to help them rebuild their lives.
