Syrian refugees return home: 'We tasted the horrors of war'
In 2025, approximately 1.3 million Syrians returned from abroad, while another 2 million internally displaced people went back home, reducing the global Syrian refugee population from 6 million to 4.9 million.
After the 54-year-long al-Assad dynasty was toppled by a rebel offensive on December 8, 2024, a wave of returns began. The 14-year war had caused one of the world's largest migration crises, with about 6.8 million Syrians—roughly a third of the population—fleeing the country at its peak in 2021.
More than half of these refugees, around 3.74 million, settled in neighboring Turkiye, while 840,000 found refuge in Lebanon and 672,000 in Jordan. According to UNHCR data, 556,000 Syrians returned from Turkiye in 2025, 465,000 from Lebanon, and 256,000 from Jordan. Overall, 1.3 million returned from abroad, and an additional 2 million internally displaced Syrians went back, cutting the global refugee population from 6 million to 4.9 million.
Hiam, a returnee, told Al Jazeera she came back with her family after more than a decade abroad. "The reason that pushed us to return was the high cost of living we were facing in the host country. We stayed there for 12 years, and it was a great hardship for us as refugees. We returned to Syria, thank God, but in the beginning it was difficult because we didn't find homes or anything. Syria now is completely different from when we left. The return was very difficult at first - the scene was very hard for me. But thank God, I became stronger. The first period was very difficult, and at the beginning, it was hard to cope," she explained.
UNHCR reports that more than seven in ten returnees have noted improvements in security and freedom of movement in Syria. Nearly three-quarters of Syrian refugees abroad have expressed a desire to eventually return home. By mid-May 2026, returns had reached 549,800, driven by deteriorating conditions in Lebanon.
