Over 500,000 Syrian migrants return home from Türkiye since Assad’s fall

DAMASCUS

More than 500,000 Syrian migrants residing in Türkiye have returned to their country since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, the Turkish interior minister announced on Sept. 29.

“Following the liberation of Syria, 509,387 Syrian brothers and sisters have returned to their country,” Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, adding that voluntary returns are gaining momentum.

Since 2016, the total number of “voluntary” returns has exceeded 1.2 million, he said.

Türkiye has consistently promoted a policy it describes as “voluntary, safe and dignified” returns for migrants since the onset of the civil war in 2011, hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees worldwide.

According to the figures released in early August, around 2.5 million Syrian refugees still reside in Türkiye.

Yerlikaya’s figures follow a U.N refuge agency report last week indicating that a total of 1 million refugees have returned to Syria since December 2024, with more than half coming from Türkiye.

There are more than 7 million Syrians still displaced in Syria and 4.5 million living abroad, the agency noted.

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi called on the international community, private sector and the Syrian diaspora to “come together and intensify their efforts to support recovery,” ensuring voluntary return is done in a dignified and sustainable manner.

“With renewed commitment, the international community can help preserve hope and support stability and durable solutions for one of the largest refugee situations of our time,” Grandi said.

A new U.N. survey conducted in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt showed that even more Syrian refugees intend to return home.

Among the 6,316 Syrians surveyed, 80 percent expressed a definite desire to return, while 20 percent plan to do so within the next year.

U.N. data showed that the majority of returnees are settling in Damascus and Aleppo, with approximately 350,000 heading to these cities. Some 95,000 have returned to Daraa, the city where protests triggering the civil war first erupted.

The U.N. agency, however, warned that many returnees lack adequate housing, often attempting to rebuild homes destroyed during the war using their own resources.

“In my area of origin there’s nothing, no services, no electricity,” said one of the respondents in the UNHCR report. “The first thing we’ll need is a roof over our heads.”

A major security concern remains unexploded ordnance and landmines from the conflict, with the U.N. estimating that nearly 300,000 explosives remain scattered across the country. Since Dec. 8, 2024, more than 900 people have been killed or injured due to landmines and unexploded bombs.