Up to one million internally displaced people (IDPs) in northwest Syria want to return home within the next year, with 600,000 expressing a desire to do so within six months, according to a survey carried out by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners.
According to the Italian news agency ANSA, as of January 2025, there were over 3.4 million internally displaced people in northwest Syria, with 1.95 million of them residing in 1,500 camps and informal settlements spread throughout the governorates of Idlib and Aleppo.
Two out of three families in a survey by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR stated that they intended to return, indicating that the desire to return is especially strong among displaced people in Idlib.
According to UNHCR estimates, if returns go according to plan, the population in places like Ma’arat An Nu’man and Kafr Nobol (Idlib) could rise from 3,000 to 130,000.
Populations could at least double in 23 districts overall, further taxing infrastructure and services.
Although there is a strong emotional desire to return, displaced Syrians identified several major barriers, such as a lack of access to basic services, work opportunities, and humanitarian aid.
One of the most pressing needs is housing access. Although 80% of displaced people who plan to return stated that their homes were destroyed or seriously damaged, almost all of them still wish to return to their previous residences.
Among the 350,000 IDPs who intend to return to former front-line districts like Suqaylabiyah (Hama) and Al Ma’ra (Idlib), this percentage rises to 95%.
Syria is at a turning point in its history, fourteen years after the crisis began. Ninety percent of the population is now dependent on aid due to the infrastructure and economy being destroyed by years of conflict.
UNHCR emphasizes that there is hope and a historic opportunity at this time. The organization calls on the international community to support returning Syrians more vigorously by investing in quick recovery efforts and offering crucial aid.